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AGIUCULTUR.U,, GIvjLOGlCVL, A.\D DKSCIUI'TIVE 



SKETCHES 



or 



LOWER iXORTII CAROLINA, 



AND THE 



SIMILAR ADJACENT LANDS. 



B T 



EDMUND RUFFIN, 



OF VIRGINIA. 



\ 



RALEIGH: 

PRINTED AT THE INSTITUTION FOR THE DEAF & DUMB & THE BLIND. 

1861. 



5^' 



^\ 



^% 



"^ 



RALEIGH, November 8, 1860. 

To His Exccllmaj JoiiN W. Ellis, 

Governor of North Carolina : 

Sir ; — The proposition of Mr. Edmund Ruifin, the distinguished 
Agriculturalist and Authoi', to fuinish a communication upon the 
iigi'iculture of the eastern counties of this State, will, I hope, be 
accepted by your Excellency. 

It will please me especially, if this communication can be pub- 
lished ia such a form, that it may be regarded as u report for the 
Agricultural and Geological Siu'vey now in progress. 

The field of investigation in North Carolina is extremely wide, 
in consequence of a diversity of interest, climate and soil. Aid, 
therefore, from any quarter is important, especially when proffered 
by a gentleman of Mr. Ruffin's abilities. 

The principles of agriculture are the same everywhere in all 
countiies, — but their application often require special modifica- 
tions. It is so in this State. The use of our native fertilizers 
for example, in the vaiious kinds of marls, call lor special rules 
of application. These are to be found out only by close obser- 
vation and much experience. An immense saving in money 
depends upon their proper application, as to time, from composition 
and the cojidition of the soil to which they are to be applied. 

Tha subject has been, and is still, receiving all the attention 
I am able to bestow upon it. We have no tear that we shall 
receive too much light upon the subject. Agriculture is slow 
in its advances, and hence, every communication which is calcu- 
lated to give it an impulse, deserves the patronage of the State. 
I am, Sir, 

Your Obedient Serv^ant, 

E. EmiONS, 

State Geologist. 



COITTEN'TS. 



List of Erral*, ........ vjii 

Prefiice, ........ jx 

Part I. — Agricultural Geology ; or Remarhs on the drift-formed and 

the Denuded regions of the Atlantic slope, - - - - 13 

General features of the Atlantic slope of the Southern States, - 13 

Rscaivel gaolo^ical dootrinss a? to early graat changes of the earth, 

by both igne:)us and aqueous agencies. - - - - 17 

Denuded and drift-formed sections of the region under notice. These ferms 

defined — and the natural features described, - - - 20 

The ancient and great north-western flood, and its effects, in the operations of denu- 
dation and drift-formation. Theseoparations traced and evidences adduced, 28 

Differences of soils of the two great sections, and the causes thereof. Practi- 
cal application of the doctrines to the improvement of soils, - - 40 

Part II. — AgrictUural Features of Lower North Carolina, and the adjoin- 
ing territory, ........ ^\ 

§1. General Remarks. The public but slightly informed of the region in 

qnestion, and especially with lower North Carolina in general, - 51 

52. Peculiar characters of the low-lands, in surface and qualities of soil, 54 

§3. Peculiar characters of the rivers, and the many fit for navigation, - 56 

§4. General want of drainage, and of proper views on the subject, - - 57 
§5. The, true principle of drainage for this region, and the geological facts 

on which the principle is founded, - - - - - 59 

§5. The underlying sand-bed, and its opposite operations in regard to draining, 62 

§7. The usual and general plan of draining, and its radical defects, - 68 
§3. Evidences or illustrations of the existing injuries from superfluous water, 

and of the proper means for relief, - - - - 71 

§9. The upper beds always permeable, if drained, - - - 73 
§10. Examples of the effects of the true principles of drainage, in both 

artificial and natural operations, - - - - - 74 

§11. Draining vertically by bore-holes, - - ... ^g 
§12. The presence of quick-sand, both as an impediment or an aid to 

effectual draining, *"*---- 76 
§13. Tests by which to judge, in advance of the expediency, or the success, 

of desired draining operations — and •llustrations of effects, - - 78 
§14. Some of t'ae farming practices of the low-lands— Defect3 and proposed im- 
provements—Rotations of crops— Pea-fallow— narrow and broad-bed tillage, 83 



VI CONTENTS. 

PosTCRiPT. — Linds on the Chowan and Roanoke, - • - 97 

Addendum. — A new flan for ploughincj flat land in aid of drainage, - 101 

Part III. — Observations on the features and changes of the Ocean sand-reef, 

and the enclosed navigahle waters of North Carolina, - - 113 

§1. General remark.s on the sand-reef, its inlets and their changes, and 

their operations on the enclosed waters, - - - - - 113 

§3. The deep harbor of Beaufort inaccessible from the back country. New 

facilities for reaching it in progress, or proposed, - - - 117 

§3. The proposed canal through the reef at Nagshead. Former closing of the 

reef, particularly at Currituck Inlet, and the risult on the interior waters, 119 
§4. The sand-reef considered as land or soil — and the several kinds. The 

islands of the Sounds, - - - - - - -122 

§5. Grazing and rearing of live-stock. The wild horses — their qualities and 

habits — and the " horse-pennings." . - - . . 130 

§6. Supposed geological position of the sand-reef, and the Sounds. Ancient 

sand-hills serving to form barren soils on the main land, - - 133 

§7. Artificial outlet for the navigation of the sounds through the Dismal Swamp 

canal. Improvement to hea'th by raising the water level of Da^p C.'eeA, 137 
§8. The Albemarle and Chesapeake Ship Canal in progress of construction, and 

its great importance to agricultural and commercial interests, - - 140 

§9. Novel and r<imarkable manner of excavating the new canal. Probable 

benefit of this work to the drainage operations, - - - - 143 

§10. The great fisheries on the Sounds, and how conducted, - - 147 

§11. The wild ducks and other water fowls of Currituck Sound, and their 

great value. Northern interlopers and incendiary agents, - - 150 

Part. IV. — Th^ origin and minrisr of giobgisal fjnnUion of the great 

swamps of the Atlantic coast, ----- 155 

General description and account of peat, and especially in Europe. DifF^r- 

ences of European peat and that of these southern states, - - 155 

General characters of our peat swamps and soils, - - - - 163 

The great swamps higher than the surrounding firm land. Sources of rivers 

in the interior, - - - - - - - -165 

The beginning and progress of the natural growth of the peat swamps, - 167 

Rain-water enough for supply of rivers issuing from swamps, - - 174 

Extent of evaporation, - - - - - - - 176 

Origin and progress of formation of swamp rivers, - - - 181 

Evidences of former subsidence of the swamp region. Acid supposed to be 

in peat soils and waters, ..--.. 182 

Progress of formation of peat, and extension of peat swamps through long tinae. 
Operation of fire thereon, and especially in excavating hollows, aad so 

forming lakes, - - - - • - - ^ 193 

Rotting away, or destruction by burning, of swamp or peaty soils, - - 197 

Peat formed, or deposited, under water, ----- 199 



CONTENTS. VII 

Part V. — Notes of the natural features, and agricultural character and 

improvements of parts of the Great Swamps, - - - 203 

The Dismal Swamp, -------- 204 

The Mattamuskeet Swamp Lands, ------ 214 

The Scuppei-nong Swamp Lands, -.--.. 232 

The " Open Ground " Savanna and Desert^ .... 244 

Part VI. — No' es mi the Pine Trees of Lowar North Carolina Sind Virginia, 252 

General observations on pines. Confusion of names, - . . 252 

Long-leaf or Southern Pine, {Pinus Aasiralis,) - . - . 254 

Cedar Pine, (P. inop-i,) -.-.... 257 

White Piae, (P. sirohus,) ....... 258 

Short-leaf or Yellow Pine, (P. varhibalis,) . . . . 259 

Loblolly Pine. (P. to.:7",) .-.-... 261 

Great Swamp Pine; or Naval Timbar Pin3. Slash Pine, • - 264 

Fon.\Pln(^, {P. ssrotini,) -----.. 273 

Pitch Pine, (P. rigida,) --.-... 275 

General and comparative observations on all the foregoing, - - 277 

PosTCKiPT. — Growth of Cones requires two Summers^ • - - 283 

Part VIIL- — Notice of the recent improvement of Edgecnmhe County, North 

Carolina, and especially by means of compost manuring, - 285 to 296 



ERRATA. 



[N. B. — The inability of ths author to S3e, for corrjctim. the proof sheets of tbis work, 
was the necessary causa of many errjrs of t a j pi'jsd — ji waicli the most important will be 
here noted, for correction by the reader.] 



Page X. line 91, for ' has ' read hrtue. 
xi. liae 14, after ' is ' iniart aj. 
14, after 'iVorth Cirjlina' insert 
(as part of heaJia:^) Pari I. 
13 line 1, for 'scjpe' read slope. 
5, f >i' 'ic' read ail. 
16, foi.' 'loA^er' read hrger. 
2i, fjr ' even' rea i over. 
7, fjr 'such' fdid fi.to'i. 
22, for 'There' read Tiese. 
16, for 'loDse' read lose. 
25, for 'impDssible' read im- 



2 

45 

45 

4J 

5J 

52 

5} 
passable. 

57 " 21, for 'banks and' read 
6)-aJic/ie.s of. 

.07 " 23, for *or' read of. 

CO " 2, for 'such' read in-ic\. 

62 " 10, for'drnuth' readi-oitjiL 

62 " 31, f.)' 'im.Jortani, it" read 
imr>ortant. It. 

63 " 9, for ']ow-laads,but,' read 
low-land'i. But. 

»i6 " 13, for 'low' read close. 
18, for 'ever' read eye/i. 
3), for ' rivers 's' read river's, 
'■i, for 'draining' r. drawing. 

3, for 'summer ; while' read 

W^iile. 
17, for 'But Core' read But, 



6-i " 
75 " 
77 " 
79 " 
83 " 

summsr. 

116 " 

as Core 

119 " 

124 " 

126 

129 

130 

132 

134 

134 

137 

138 

\3i 

141 

143 



5, for 'creek' read creeks. 
" 26, for 'preceding' recerfin.g'. 
" 36, for 'course' read coarse. 
" 24, for rotted' read unrolled. 
" 6, for 'getting' r. gathering. 
" 35, for 'seldom' r. co aid not 
" 24, for 'effects' read effect. 
" 33 &34,f. 'extreme' extensive. 
" 14, for 'from' read /or. 
" 10, for 'sickness' r. sickliness. 
" 16, after 'the' insert previous. 
" 35 & 36, for 'loose' read lose. 
" 2, for'Frofitable'r Pro6a&/€. 



144 " 2G, after 'beam' ins. being. 
147 " 14, for 'captan'read cjpstan. 
1 8 " 27, for 'loose' read lose. 
151 " IJ. for 'loose' read lose. 
153 " 24, far 'knot' read kind. 
165 " 13, after 'are' insert not. 
161 " IJ, ?lter 'siipp.ias' insert 
ctoiin^ qu )tation (") for the preced- 
inr passage. 

16.) ioAfest line, for 'tempature' read 
tein;)'irature. 

171 " 35, for 'This' read Tkus. 

172 " 17, for 'on' read or. 

]78 *' 19, for 'mantle' read man/e^ 

181 '• 15, for 'ieval' read level 

182 " 8, after 'both of ' omit </ie. 
182 " 15, for 'pest' read peai. 

184 " 11, after 'had' insert stop (.) 

185 " 28. for "in places' r. in place. 

187 " 18, far 'then' read there. 

188 " 23, for 'favor' rea(i^b?-»n. 
18J " 33, for 'imprejnative' read 
impregnation. 

196 •' 2', f. 'increasing r. unceasing. 

197 " 24, for 'moss' read mass. 
2J3 " 9, ^of text) for 'enumerated' 
read enunciated. 

2d4 " 17, for 'further' read/artfter. 
2.J4 " 27, for 'larger' read longer. 
235 " 2 of note, for 'whenever* 
read wherever. 
%\b " 28, for 'from' read /or. 

214 " 33, for 'river' read ground. 

215 " 14, for 'ever' read even. 

216 " 11, for 'dug' read rfi-j/. 

231 " 28, for 'prover' read proper. 
251 " 16, f of text) for 'select-part* 
read part select. 

,271 " 1 (heading of table,) for 
'Forest | Land never cleared, read 
Forest land never cleared. 
272 in and throughout the foot-note, 
for 'Dr. James F McRae,' reaJ 
JdcRee. 



PREFACE. 



More than twenty years ago, the writer of these Sketches made several 
excursions, for personal observation, to different parts of the region to be 
here treated of. The facts of his then very limited opportunities for examin- 
ation, were reported in different communications to the Farmers' Register.* 
The extent and the imnortance of the subjects for investigation, of which 
only limited and hasty glances could then be taken, left a strong desire for 
renewing and making more full examinations of this remarkable agricul- 
tural region, the important values of which, so far, were but little known 
even to the most intelligent residents, and the peculiar features of which 
were almost entirely unknown to all others than its residents. It was not 
until long after, in 1856, when, by my withdrawal from my previous en- 
grossing business and continued labors as a farmer, I obtained the requisite 
leisure, and so was enabled to attempt the fulfillment of this wish, which 
had been suspended for so many years. But when engaged in this investi- 
gation — working, as I was, without any official appointment or position — 
at my own expense — and encountering much toil, and risk to health by 
exposure — without aid from any quarter — without any definite object, other 
than my own present gratification, and without any prospect of personal 
gain, or reimbursement — it cannot be supposed that my labors, or their 
fruits, could be anything like complete, or to be compared with what they 
ought to be, and perhaps might have been, if all these disadvantageous 



* Among the more important of sundry such articles as are referred to above, re- 
ports of earlier personal examinations made by the writer, are the following : 

Observations on the Dismal Swamp, in " Farmers' Register," Vol. iv, p. 513 to 521. 

Descriptions of some of the Swamp Lands, near Plymouth and Lake Scupper- 
nong, Ac, and remarks on kindred subjects in North Carolina. Vol. vii, pp. 698 to 
703, & 724 to 733. 

Observations on Lands of New Hanover. — Vol. viii., p. 245 ; Calcarions beds of Rocky 
Point, 246; Savanna Land», Ac, 248; Marl and Limestone, on Neuse and, Trent Ri- 
vers, 253 ; Judge Gaston's Pocoson Farm, 251. 

Also, in the '• Farmers' Kegister," (Vol. ix, 1841,) was made the first publication of 
" The History of The Dividing Line," and the other private writings of Colonel Wil- 
liam Byrd, of Westover, whvcb curious and interesting memoirs liad before remained in 
Manuscript for a century. 



i; PREFACE. 

conditions had been reversed. But even under the actual disadvantages, I 
am persuaded that even my very imperfect observations may still indicate 
important means for very valuable agricultural and other great improve- 
ments of the extensive region under consideration. A few other persons, 
who only have read the reports in manuscript, have formed like favora- 
ble opinions of their probable utility. For such favorable opinion, of the 
Hon. John W. Ellis, Governor of North Carolina, formed upon his own 
reading of the whole series, I am indebted for his request to me, to have 
these reports published at the charge, and for the use of the State of North 
Carolina, as part of a collection of sundry District Reports, by different^ 
writers, on the Agricultural character. Topography, Natural History, &c.,. of 
this State. It is under these auspices that most of those reports will now be 
first published, and a tew others re-published, as necessary, or suitable parts, 
of the series. All these reports weremostly written within the year 1856, and 
no alteration has been made in thesubstance of what was then written, andno 
attempt made to bring up occurrences to later, or to the present time. But 
some later excursions have supplied more material for description, or for 
illustration — and some such new matters have been since inserted, and 
which will appear as later additions, whenever that fact, or the later date, is 
of any importance to the subjects 

All my observations of this great and remarkable agricultural region has 
brought me to believe, that I have not known or heard of any other, com- 
parable in extent or value, which so much unites the several characteristics 
of (1st.,) its so much needing agricultural improvement, and the increasing 
of its fertility and production. — (2nd,) of possessing great resources and 
fertilizers for effecting the needed improvements — and (3rd) of promising 
great and certain pecuniary profit, and both individual and general benefit, 
from producing these improvements. All estimates constructed on such im- 
perfect and limited data, as now o ily are reliable, must necessarily be un- 
certain. But when trying to make due allov/ance for the uncertainty of 
the grounds, I still confidently believe that the new nett agricultural va- 
lue and wealth so to be produced in lower North Carolina alone, would 
amount to hundreds of millions of dollars, over the present value, and over 
any possible value to be secured by the present system of culture and 
husbandry. And I would count upon acquiring this great profit, and net 
increase of productive agricultural capital, from three principal sources or 
modes of improvement only, independent of all other minor, yet important 
improvements and profits available— and some of which have already been 
admirably used in Edgecombe county. The three great wants, and also 
means for impiovement in lower North Carolina, and to two of which the 
following reports will mainly apply, are the following : 



PKEFAGE. JH 

1st. — ^Tlie draining, (where j^roper and needed, according to the char- 
acter of tlie soil,) of the vast area of rich swamp hinds. 

2nd. — The proper draining (on the principle and theory which will be i!jdi-> 
cated in Part 11, of these Reports,) of mo.st of the other and firnj, Jaad, 
which in common parlance is designated as dry, but of which, but little in 
this low-land region i« ever really dry, except during summer and autumn 
droughts, when their dryness is, indeed, often in full proportion tO: their 
excess of wetness during winter and spring. 

3rd. — The proper use of marl, from the very extensive, rich','^u>i i;i uMny 
cases very accessible beds which underlie so much of this, great region — 
or, otherwise, of lime brought to places where marl is not a.v,ailable. 

On this head, but little will be said in the following ar,tiQl8s, because the 
writer has heretofore published so much on the subject of improvement of 
soils by calcareous manures, all of which is applicable- to lower North Caro- 
lina as to lower Virginia, for which his reasouiy-g and instructions were 
first designed. 

The several articles which will here appear, under one general title, and 
as a series, were at first written as separate reports,, on dilferent subjects. — 
Each one is sufficiently distinct in subject and ti;^atnient to be read alonct 
Still the series will be required for consideration of the general subject of 
the natural features and agricultural resources- of lowcj North Carolina. 

E. R^ 

Virginia, Oct., 1860. 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, & 



C. 



AGRICULTURAL GEOLOGY j OR REMARKS ON THE DRIFT- 

F0R3IED AND THE DENUDED REGIONS OF 

THE ATLANTIC SLOPE. 



Theoughout the Atlantic scope of the United States, from Geor- 
gia to New York, inclusive, at greater or less distance from the 
sea shore, a continuous elevation of granite rock forms the long 
western boundary line and higher border of the lower lands. — 
The same rock, rising to Tarious higher elevations, and in vari- 
ous conditions of texture, or of progressing disintegration, is seen 
often at the surface, or at intervals, for many miles more west- 
ward. The eastern border of the granite, though mostly hid- 
den by the overlying earth, is exposed to view in all the beds of 
the rivers, (and in many of the smaller streams,) and serves to 
constitute the very distinct and high barrier of stone which 
^lalies the eastern or lower falls of all the rivers which flow 
into or toward the Atlantic ocean. Between these most 
eastern falls and the ocean, the rivers have but slight rates 
of descent, and therefore are of moderate velocity, and of smooth 
and placid surface. The flow of the ocean tides, (unless where ob- 
structed by obvious causes,) generally extend through the whole 
or a large portion of the sjtace between the ocean and the east- 
^xn falls of the rivers, (or the first visible granite). Hence the 
great ai'ea, lying between these boundaries, is generally distin- 
gi^ftbed as the " tide water" region, and that term will be thus 
Ul^d here,, for designation, and in conformity with established 



14 AGRICULTURAL GEOLOGY. 

usage. But the term is not accurate, or descriptive even for all 
of eastern Virginia ; and still less for tlie like territory much 
farther jSTorth and South, In the Hudson river of New York, 
the tide flows through and westward of the eastern granite — 
and in south eastern Virginia, and all further southward, the flow 
of tide does not nearly approach the granite falls. The most 
northern rivers of this last description, are those discharged into 
Albemarle Sound, in North Carolina, from which the entrance 
of ocean or tide-water is excluded by the long sand bank, or reef, 
along all that coast, which serves as a barrier. Farther south- 
ward, in South Carolina and Georgia, the greater length of the 
rivers east of the falls, and the greater rate of their descent, pre- 
vent the tides rising to the falls, or approaching within many 
miles of them. "With this explanation and admission of inaccu- 
racy, must be understood the ordinary term of the " tide-water 
region," as including all the space between the ocean and the 
most eastern falls of the river. 

The granite range or falls, the line of which marks the west- 
ern boundary of this great area, is nearer to the sea-shore at the 
north, and diverges therefrom, more and more towards the south. 
My personal observations of this region have been made princi- 
pally in Virginia, and with less opportunity for examination, in 
Maryland, North Carolina and South Carolina. Similar char- 
acteristics as to the more northern and southern States, are in- 
ferred merely from general report of their topography, and 
other features. 

Many years ago, when my personal observations on this sub- 
ject had been altogether confined within even smaller limits than 
their later and still very narrow extent, I was forcibly imjDressed 
by what seem^ed to be peculiar and remarkable characteristics of 
this region, in the configuration of the surface, and the qualities 
of the soils — and in the supposed great uniformity of general 
character, (notwithstanding many variations in particulars,) 
throughout the whole extent, so far as known. The supposed pe- 
culiar qualities were studied, so far as my very deficient means 
permitted, for the purpose of learning thence how to improve and 
enrich the soil of this great and generally poor region. A young 
and busily occupied farmer, as I was, almost confined to my farm 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 15 

audits labors, and 'vitlioiit any pvevious knowledge cif the scien- 
ces necessary for sucli invcs*^igations, it necessarily followed that 
the results of my enquiries were but small, compared to what 
might have been obtained by one properly prepared — who, to a 
competent knowledge of practical agriculture, could have brought 
to bear on such investigations, the important lights of Botany, 
Chemistry, Mineralogy and Geology, It is unfortunate for the 
improvement of agriculture that, almost without exception, the 
men who have successfully cultivated these scientific pursuits, are 
as little acquainted with agriculture, as nearly all practical farm- 
ers are with the sciences just named, the knowledge of which 
would so greatly aid the study and improvement of practical 
agriculture. Until some investigator shall bring both the kinds 
of knowledge required for snch subjects, great deficiencies in all 
must be expected, and be overlooked and excused. Such allow- 
ances, so much needed for all mere scientific investigators and 
teachers of Agriculture, I trust may not be denied to me, when 
attempting, as I shall do, to derive something from the lights of 
science, to aid agricultural researches, and for practical appli- 
cation. 

The peculiarities of the tide-water regions, which might strike 
any cursory observer, are these : 

1. — Hilly or irregular as many parts are, the general surfaee 
of the highest lands, present the numerous points in a very regu- 
lar plane, gradually declini)ig in elevation from the higher surfa- 
ces at and above the falls, towards the sea shore. In and to vari- 
ous depths below this supposed inclined plane, have been grooved 
or excavated, the numerous valleys and ravines. ^ 

2. — The soils are mostly light ; but whether light, and of loose 
or open texture, or close and stitf, are, to a very great extent, com- 
posed of silicious sand — coarser in the open, and very fine in the 
stifl:' soils. 

3. — There is no fixed or extensive rock, or beds of stone, unless 
of recent formation — but few pebbles, and none over the lower 
and larger exteiit of surface. 

4. — With all variations of texture and of exposure of soils, there 
is much uniforiTiity of character — and especially in the natural 
poverty of the lands generally. 



l(i .4(;UICULTURAL GEOLOdY. 

To these more oljvious general characteristics!, (the few exceip'- 
tioiis to which will be passed by for the present,) I have former- 
ly added some others, as deductions from reasoning or experience. 
Among these were the following : 

5, — The naturally poor lands of this region, are incapable of 
being considerably and durably enriched by putrescent or organic 
manures alone. 

6. — Such soils are greatly deficient in lime, and much more so 
than soils generallj^ in the higher country. 

7. — The proper application of lime, in every case, will be great- 
ly beneficial and improving to the soil, and also will serve to make 
the subsequent use of putrescent manures of much more durable 
effect. 

8. — Gypsum, as manure, was of no effect on these poor lands, 
before their being well and sufficiently limed ; and generally was* 
efficacious, on leguminous crops afterwards, probably in every 
ca-e of full previous and needed effect of the lime, on both soil 
and sub-soil. 

These hitter positions, with others, were maintained in my 
" Essay on Calcareous Manures," and therefore will not be discus- 
sed again here, but assumed as established and understood. 

Ill all these respects, and as to every natural and artificial qua- 
lity named, the lands lying higher than, or westward of, the falls, 
(termed in Virginia, the Piedmont region,) are different, and, in 
some of the points, of entirely opposite character. They have no 
such uniformity of surface, or of constitution of soil- They were 
much richer naturally, and are generally capable of being much 
and profitably improved by putrescent manures. Lime, as ma- 
nure, has rarel}^ had there any appreciable effect, while gypsum 
is generally beneficial as manure. As in the other case (of the 
tide-water lands,) it is designed here to state general rules and 
facts, and not to stop to note and explain (or to attempt to ex- 
plain all) exceptional soils and cases, whether really or apparent- 
ly oidy in contradiction. Whether the interesting facts of cases 
s J oj)posed. can be accounted for satisfactorily, may well be doubt- 
ed. But it is certain that the manner of the geological formation 
of the soils and sub-soils ot these two neighboring regions was 
entirely different : and in tracingthese differences of origin, much' 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &.C. 17 

light may be thrown on the existing differences of physical struc- 
ture, and chemical constitution of the soils of the different regions; 
and possibly such imperfect lights may guide future and better 
prepared inquirers to more useful results. I will now endeavor 
to trace the former great operations of nature, in producing 
changes, and bringing about the very different existing conditions 
of these different regions, and thence attempt to deduce their dif- 
ferent agricultural capabilities. 

The investigations of Geologists, extended more or less through 
all the well-known portions of the globe, have served to discover 
and establish certain great fundamental truths, as to the changes 
which the earth has undergone since its creation, or its oldest as- 
certained condition. These doctrines are now of universal accep- 
tation. Therefore, in taking them as bases on which to found 
my observations and reasoning, it will only be necessary for me 
to refer to these recognized truths, and assume them as unques- 
tionable premises — and not to argue for their correctness, or 
to enter into their details. But, speaking as a mere agriculturist, 
having but little pretensions to science, and addressing hearers of 
my own class, and not generally better instructed, it will be pro- 
per and excusable to be somewhat more explanatory than would 
otherwise be necessary. When assuming as premises the admit- 
ted truths of Greology, I merely use the lights of others, now 
common to all learners. But in making deductions from these 
borrowed premises, and especially in applying them to the circum- 
stances and character of the region in question, the observations 
and the reasoning will be my own, and consequently, the errors 
and the responsibility. 

From the more recent and universally admitted doctrines of Ge- 
ology, we learn that the oldest (or first existing) known material 
of the globe is granite, which, in its original place, or position, is 
the lowest rock from the present surface of the earth, and is sup- 
posed to constitute the interior part, and the far greater bulk of 
the whole globe. The first great agent of change, or of forma- 
tion of the entire globe, was fire or intense heat ; and the early 
condition of all the parts was that of fusion, or fluidity produced 
by intense heat. Of this agency and this origin, the interior and 
3 



18 AGRICULTURAL GEOLOGY. 

older rocks, and the granite in general, oft'er abundant evidences 
In after ages, when the outer part of the globe had cooled down 
to solidity, and water had been deposited in full quantity, aque- 
ous agencies succeeded to the previous igneous, and thereafter 
most of the changes in the upper beds, or what is termed the 
"crust" of the globe, were thus produced. 

Kext followed upon the outer and exposed portions of the globe, 
the various results of the action of water, when in motion, and 
also when more or less tranquil, and whether as rain or ice, and 
in seas and lakes, rivers and rivulets, or in violent and transient 
torrents and inundations. These agencies were sufficient to pro 
duce all the eflects ascribed to them, great and marvelous as they 
are. The highest pinnacles of mountains, (previously raised by 
igneous or volcanic action,) were gradually disintegrated and 
washed down, and the ruins thereof, suspended ii], or rolled by 
moving waters, were deposited in, and lilled the lowest depths of 
the ocean, as well as others on the lands — and thus in a sufficient 
time, of unknown and inconceivable duration, the whole surface 
and outside material of the globe were changed mainly by aque- 
ous abrasion, removal, transportation, and the mingling and final 
re-deposition of the parts. The whole of the successive and 
connected deposits of such earthy matters, by one of these great 
operations, though sub-divided into ditFerent varieties, or beds, 
are considered as one "formation," and possess peculiar chaiac- 
teristics, distinguishing it from all other formations. All of the 
many successive formations, and indeed of the several sub-divi- 
sions of each, except a few of the oldest, or the primitive rocks 
(of igneous origin,) have fossil remains of animals and vegetables 
proving conclusively that species entirely different occupied the 
surface of the earth and its waters, during the deposition of each, 
such great formation. Also, between the several difierent, but 
next /idjaceut sub-divisions ot each formation, ihere are such gen- 
eral/changes and substitutions (though not universal,) of animal 
life, as to show that the conditions necessary to sustain life were 
greatly varied, with every such minor change of the earth's sur- 
face. Thus many races and kinds of living beings have success- 
ively been created, occupied the earth and its waters, and then. 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 19 

perished — eacli of such races having been incapable of existing 
in the very different conditions of either the next preced- 
ing, or the next succeeding period, of the earth's many great 
changes. 

Thus, in succession, and in uniform order of time and position, 
throughout the known workl, have been produced, as secondary 
and hiter acts of construction and creation by the All-wise and 
All-benevolent God, all of the many successive formations, and 
their several sub-divisions of strata, and the different races and 
numerous species of animals that successively inhabited each. — • 
In some parts of the world, certain rocks, or strata, or in some 
cases even whole formations, are wanting. But of such beds or 
rocks as are present in any one locality, the order of succession in 
which they occur, is always the same as of the similar beds and 
rocks found in any other part of the world. 

"While these sundry formations were successively in progress, 
by aqueous action and sedimentary deposition of transported ma- 
terials, the igneous action was still powerful, and unceasing in 
operation, though irregular and long remitting in numerous lo- 
calities—and the effects were of the greatest magnitude and im- 
portance. During all the successive periods of aqueous forma- 
tions, internal heat and volcanic forces operated to upheave and 
lift, to greater elevations, the solid rocks of the overlying forma- 
tions, (the former soft and loose sedimentary deposits, solidified 
to stone by time and pressure) — in some cases leaving the upheav- 
ed strata nearly horizontal, and in others, and more generally, 
raising them greatly on one side, and depressing them on the 
other. In this manner, the mountain ranges of greatest extent 
and height were upheaved, from beneath the former ocean, and 
the previously lower beds, or formations, raised and protruded 
through the former upper and horizontal strata of sedimentary 
deposition. And the separated edges of the ruptured strata were 
thus lifted, so as to be greatly inclined, or in some cases, the stra- 
ta placed nearly or quite perpendicular to their original horizon- 
tal position. Such effects, however separated by time, and wheth- 
er of slow and gradual, or in part of rapid production, have 
been extended through vast spaces, and at different times, have 



20 AGRICULTURAL GEOLOGY. 

distinctly marked and changed every known part of the surface 
of the globe, except in the very recent deposits In most cases 
the lower strata have been raised and thrust upward in their solid 
form, and remain unchanged, except in their new position and 
inclination. In other cases, the granite, ±rom beneath all the 
later formed and stratified rocks, has been forced through them, 
(by volcanic action) in a softened or molten and fluid state, raised 
above what were previously the highest and newest deposits, and 
so is left on the surface of the latest sedimentary strata. 

Thus, by the great and extended effects of internal igneous and 
volcanic agencies, the before nearly horizontal stratified rocks and 
beds were all broken through and raised, and inclined, so that the 
broken and raised edges of all the strata were brought somewhere 
to the new surface of the earth, and so are exposed to view and 
examination. Such is the usual present condition of all regions 
composed of any of the older formations, or indeed of any other 
than of the latest, and very recent, not yet much altered in position, 
since their being originally deposited as sediment. 

Tlie greatest and most numeious of these effects are of antiquity 
far beyond, not only the traditions, but even the existence of man- 
kind. But, even if the remaining present appearances did not 
fully prove and explain the greatest and oldest of these volcanic 
changes, and upheavals of portions of the earth, there have been 
enough of such operations and effects, both of upheaval and of sub- 
sidence, for examples and proofs, which have occurred within the 
time of reliable history, and even within very recent times. Every 
locality of primitive, or of the early formations, exhibits either 
manifest effer-ts of ancient igneous action, or of subsequent upheav- 
als, which have thrown all the stratified rocks into more or less in- 
clined or other changed and irregular positions. 

From these general and received geological doctiines, I will pro- 
ceed to remark upon the actual and observed Geological features of 
the country next adjoining to, and both vv^estward and east- 
ward of the granite falls of the rivers flowing into the Atlantic 
ocean. 

Though the eastern falls of the rivers have been lieretofore sup- 
posed to make the line of separation between two very different 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &.C. 21 

agiicultural regions, (the differences of which liave been adverted 
to above, and some of whicli are generally recognized by even 
slight observers — ) and though this belief is not far wrong, still it 
is not entirely con-ect, The true line of division, as I now believe, 
between these regions of very different agricultural characters, is 
one of irregular and varying course, lying w'estward from, and 
something like parallel to, and not far distant from the other line 
so distinctly marked by the eastern falls of the Atlantic rivers. — 
This supposed line of division has not been fixed by actual observa- 
tion at more than a few precise points. It may, however, be easily 
determined by observation, at any part of its course. And when 
ascertained throughout, this line, separating, (as now inferred) sur- 
faces and regions of different agricultural characters, will be found 
to be identical with the line separating the higher and denuded re- 
gion, from the adjacent and lower region covered by the deposited 
sediment or drift of materials washed and transported from the 
higher levels. These terms and agencies as here applied, will pre- 
sently be explained, and reasons stated for the supposed operations. 
And iQ advance of more full explanation and description, (and even 
of knowing the actual locality of the dividing line in question,) for 
convenience of reference and distinction, I will call the upper or 
north-western, the denuded region, and the adjoining lower or 
south-eastern, the drift region.* The precise line of separa- 



*This application of the term "drift," is without scientific authority, and therefore 
would be pronounced illegitimate and improper. It is admitted, (as I believe,) that no 
geologist who has viewed or written upon this tide-water region, has deemed it of drift 
formation — and Professor Emmons, the present Geological Surveyor of North Carolina 
has expressly stated, (in his first Report,) that " there is not a boulder or a drift bed in 
North Carolina. The masses that have been moved in this and other Southern States, 
have been by means of rivers and oceanic waves — those means which exist now, and 
are in operation under our eyes." — (p. 101). The first designation for, and the manner 
of, the formation of the tide-water region, received and understood by geologists, was 
that of "alluvial." The formation has also been ascribed to earth being thrown up by 
the waves and action of the ocean, and the land being thus formed by materials moved 
from the former bottom of the ocean. Vfhilc, indeed, both these modes of formation 
were, and are still, in operation for jiarticular and very narrow spaces, and with very 
different results, it is manifestly incorrect, and even absitrd, to assume either or both of 
these operations as the producing causes of much the greater part of the tide-water 
region. The upper beds of the great region in qu-sJ,ion, have also been referred to by 
geologists as "sedimentary beds," and tertiary bads." These terms are far from being 
exact, or even loosely descriptive. The nuder-lying marl beds (of entirely different ori- 



22 AGRICULTURAL GEOLOGY. 

ration between the " denuded" and the " drift" regions, may be 
fixed by any careful observer, for any locality, by noting the incli- 
nation, &c., of tiie strata of earth, where exposed in deep excava- 
tions, or high and steep river bluffs. A well marked point of sepa- 
ration is where the Ricliinond and Danville railway crosses the Ap- 
pomatox river. Eastward, and below that point, the strata are ho- 
rizontfd, or nearly so, and present the nsual evidences of the mate- 
rials having been transported and deposited by aqueous action. — 
On the -westward, the strata are variously contorted and greatly 
inclined, sho ing changes produced by igneous action. The unde- 
termined line separating these regions, from within Maryland to 
North Carolina, varies from 5 to more than 25 miles above the 
line of the falls — and seems generally to diverge more and more 
from the falls, as proceeding southward. The western limits of 
this ''denuded" region are still more uncertain; and therefore I 
will not include in my remarks, or the api)lication of ray reasoning, 
the range of the southwest mountains, or their eastern slopes. — 
With such entire absence of designated western boundaries, so 
much of the great " denuded" region as will be here under consid- 
eration, lies wholly in, and includes much the largest portion of 
the space between the falls of the rivers and the Blue Ridge moun- 
tains, which space, in Yirginia, is known as the Piedmont region. 
The drift region includes the whole of the (so-called) tide-water 
district, and also the next adjacent (and undetermined) narrow 
strip of the Piedmont district. 

The whole portion nnder consideration of what is here termed 
the denuded region, with some partial exceptions of later origin, is 
of igneous formation or alteration, as exhibited at and near the 
present surface. Granite, either in boulders, and water-borne from 
hiMier surfaces, or in places where upheaved from below, by igne- 
ous force, is the prevailing rock, and is to be seen in various stages 



gin,) belong to the tertiary formation, and from them have been taken that name to 
be applied to the much more recent beds lying above. These recent beds are certainly 
of " sedimentary" formation ; but so are much the greater number of all the different 
beds, and even of the more ancient rocks, (all of aqueous origin) to the greatest depths 
known. My application of the term "drift," if illegitimate, or without scientific sanc- 
tion, will at least, (as here used and defined) bo clear and precise. If the thing meant ia 
understood, the name for it is of little importano*. 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 23 

of disintegration. The strata of all kinds of visible rocks — or of 
earthy strata, obviously formed by the decomposition of rocks — are 
greatly inclined — and in some cases, as contorted and irregular as 
if they had been ])ressed ujnvard when the material was so heated 
as to be in a semi-fluid state. There is every appearance of all the 
visible stratified rocks having been so pressed upward, and tilted so 
that all were brought obliquely to the sm-face, and their edges there 
exposed to all tlie disintegrating, ti-anspoi'ting and commingling 
agencies of the atmosphere and its changes of temperature, and of 
"water, w'hether of rains or of floods. Here, as else wh ye, such agen- 
cies and influences, operating on such materials and subjects, have 
served to reduce solid rocks more or less to pebbles, guivel, sand and 
clay — and thus, by mixture of these materials wdtli 'ime, magnesia, 
potash, phosphates, etc., (derived in small quantities from sundry 
compound igneous rocks,) and with organic nmtter, have been pro- 
duced all the various existing surface soils. 

Throughout all the tide-water region, (i.e. below the fails of the 
rivers,) at intervals of greater or less extent, and at gi-eater or less 
depths below the present surface of the earth, there are to be found 
beds ot what is improperly termed " marl," which were manifestly 
formed, during long successions of ages on the bottou) of the then 
ocean, partly by continued earthy sediment, and partly by the 
gradual deposition of the shells of the numerous shell-fish, which 
lived and died there, and which were of species and of races which 
are now either generally or wholly extinct. No transient flood or 
current, however violent, can be supposed to have removed these 
shells from a distant ocean bottom to their present positions, which 
are generally elevated far above the level of the surtace of the 
ocean, and very much more above its bottom. Many of these shells 
are manifestly in the places wdiere the inhabiting animals died. — 
Some, in their present uniform position, even indicate the habits of 
the former living animals, agreeing w'ith others of the saine genus, 
(though of different species) now in existence. From tliese and 
other satistactor}^ evidences, which are not required to ht adduced 
here, it is certain that these shells, where mostly whole, are now in 
what were their native beds. And hence it follows, that the much 
higher present elevation of these remains, and their entire beds, 
must have been produced by upheavtil from their former lower po- 



24 AGRICULTURAL GEOLOGY. 

sition. The beds of shells, which afford this ample proof, are now 
unbroken by the upheaving force, and are little inclined, or remain 
nearly horizontal, as seen at any one locality^ and for so mnch space 
as can be included in one view. But still there is a slight and irre- 
gular dip of the original beds toward the Enst and South; and in 
addition, there is a declining of the plane of the present surface of 
the marl strata, caused by the early denuding agency which will 
be explained, and which occurred before this new denuded surface 
of the marl was again covered by other drift earth, transported from 
the higher country. There is rarely seen exposed an}^ different 
stratum below the lowest marine shells. When such inferior beds 
have been reached, in excavating marl, they have not been careful- 
ly noticed, because no importance was attached to thoir difference 
of origin. The eocene marl, (or oldest tertiary) on the Pamunkey 
river, where rising highest in level, (not far below the falls) permits 
the underlying bed to be seen, it consisted df rounded (or wa- 
ter-worn,) hard silicious pebbles, imbedded in gravel and sand, 
and showing no appearance of marine remains, or origin. It seem- 
ed to my cursury and then careless observation, to be what I would 
now deem a formation by ancient drift, older, of course, than this 
oldest of the tertiary marls, and of materials transported from a far 
distant and much more elevated locality. 

In the recent excavation for a new street in Richmond, (on Coun- 
cil Chamber Hill, nearly as high as the site of the Capitol,) the 
miocene tertiary was exposed, in numerous and perfect casts or im- 
pressions of shells — though nothing of the shells, nor even any of 
their calcareous matter remains. This uncommon elevation shows 
that the original sea-bottom has been raised more than 150 feet per- 
pendicular above the present ocean surface, to the present elevation. 
If any observer, having the opportunity, would notice the digging 
of a well through this miocene bed in Richmond, the lowest depth 
of the bed could be ascertained, and also what is the character, and 
tlie geological origin of the underlying bed. 

The marl beds, (or their now existing remains,) rarely extend 
quite as far westward as the present falls of the rivers. Near Pe- 
tersburg and the Appomattox, onlj- , is marl found extending some 
two miles above the lower falls. Tiierefore, as the position of the 
marine remains must fix the former extent of the ocean-bottom, we 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 26 

must infer that the former shore of the ocean was nearly identical 
with the line of the present falls of the rivers. When the granite 
of the falls, and of the higher country was upheaved, the widely 
extended movement also raised the neighboring ocean bottom, and 
laid it bare, throwing back the new shore far eastward of the line 
of the former shore. This then new land, the raised bottom of the 
ocean, and largely composed of marine relics, was but slightly al- 
tered from its previous slope or level, and then became the general 
new and dry surface, extending from the line of the falls to the then 
removed sea-shore. This new sea shore was somewhere midway 
between the falls, and the present ocean beach, which is still farther 
removed, by the subsequent deposition of drift materials.* 

* Borings for designed Artesian wells have been made (though all were interrupted 
before completion,) at three different localities, Norfolk, Edonton, and Fortress Monroe, 
of the low lands, and near the present deep waters. Of the boring at Norfolk, I haro 
learned nothing more than that shell marl, (or a bed containing fossil sea-shells,) was 
first reached at the depth of about 40 feet. In this connection it may be mentioned that 
no well in Northampton county, (on the Atlantic, and eastward of the Chesapeeke,) has 
touched the marl formation — and some of these wells were dug forty feet deep. The 
boring at Edenton was executed by the direction, and at the expense of Messrs. J. B. 
Skinner and J. C. Johnson— the former of whom furnished the following notes to Profea- 
Bor Mitchell, who first published them : 

ORDER AND THICKNESS OF STRATA WNDER EDENTON, ON ALBEMARLE SOUND. 













Separate 


Strata, 






Total 


Sand, from surface to depth of 










8 feet 








8 


Sand of different kind, 












5i 








m 


Clay 












6i 








19 


Vegetable matter. [Qu. 


Peat' 


or 


Marsh 


grass 


?] 


3 








22 


Sand, 












4i 








26i 


Blue Clay, 












2i 








29 


Vegetable Matter, 












4 








33 


Quick-sand, 












9 








42 


Gravel, 












Oi 








42i 


Clay, 












^ 








47 


Sand and Marino Shells, 












n' 


-s 


tS 


m" 




64i 


Shell rock, 

Sand and Marine Shells, 












2 
21 




c3 
O 


"3 

XI 




78i 


Clay and Shells, 
Sand and Shells, 












68i 


3 
. o 

1 


o 

a 

o 


c2 




146 
147i 


Clay and Shells, 

Sand and Marine Substances, 










35 

3 J 


a 

O 

o 




-*• 

OS 

CO 

I-( 


182i 
185i 


Quick-sand. 












2i 








188 


Clay, 












2 








190 


"Left off in the clay, the 


depth 


of which is 


unknown. 


The shells 


brought 


up from 1 






4 





















2ti AGKICULTUKAL GEOLOGi". 

All soils M'ere originally formed by tlie disintegration or decom- 
position of tlie different rocks. In the condition of things above 
supposed, each rock, or bed, of the Geological formation, thus ex- 
posed in succession, in the liigher country, would be acted on by 
atmospherical influences and their changes, &c., according to tlie 
fitness of the several rocks to be so acted on, each, or its exposed 
surface, would be gradually converted to earth or soil. And if 
there were no transporting agencies, to^emo^e and mingle these 
separate earths, or soils, each one would continue to be of the same 
chemical constitution with its parent rocks, until new causes came 
into operation, to produce mixtures and changes. In such cases, of 
isolated earths, the sandstones would, b}'- disintegration only, be- 

feet reBcmble exactly, those found elsewhere at the surface/' [i.e. in out-croppingsof marl, 
and of the miocene era, as presumed.] 

The boring at Fortress Monroe (Old Point Comfort,) was noted more carefully in a re- 
cord of the operations, which I was permitted to sec in the Engineer's office, and to ab- 
stract from it the following notes. Also, specimens of all the various beds, (and of each 
day's boring,) hove been carefully preserved there, nailed up in boxes, which there was 
not time or opportunity for me to examine throughout. A few of the upper specimens of 
the shelly earth, showed it to be sandy and poor shell-marl, of the miocene age. It is 
intended that the boring operations, suspended at the depth of 312 feet, shall be again 
rosumod, and continued as deep as may be necessary to obtain water. 

STRATA PASSED THROUGH BY THE 

From Surface, 
Marsh soil, 

Then, fine dark sand, clean. 
Angular and light colored sand, containing coarser sand 

and rounded pebbles, andmud, <fec,. 
Sand and mud, in different layers. 
Some stone, sand and mud, 
Then miocene marl, 
The lowest layers of the last showed .some "green-sand 

and shells," and next, hard stone, full of shells. — 

[Both these last probably in the eocene bed]. 
IJelow, little or no change of earth, all being sand and 

bluish clay, mixed with shells. [ 1^ ] 260 

The same, but the fragments of shells Emaller, and 

pieces of stone, harder, [ '^ 3 269 

Below, earth softer as descending, and of light sky-blue 

color — [no reference made to shells, and, therefore, I 

infer that there were none in these,] [ 43 ] 312 

The fossil shells, or marine, continuous deposits hero, were 224 feet in thickness, 
hi digging for the canal (16 feet deep and 3 miles long,) through the low peninsula 
»«parHtinj: Clul^root and llyrlow's creek, (south of the lower Neuse, North Carolina.) tli« 



BC/RIXO, AT OLD I'OIIfT 


COMFORT. 








Total. 


to depth of 


[ 5i] 


5 


or 6 feet. 




[ 12i] 




18 


coarser sand 










[ 10 ] 




58 




[ 12 ] 




40 




[ 6] 




45 




[200 ] 




245 



SKETCHES OP LOWER NOKTH CAROLINA, AC. 87 

come and remain barren sands. The slates and other aluminous 
rocks, would be clays, or clayey soils, and the poorer in proportio!i 
to the purity, or freedom from all other matters, of the parent rock. 
The chalk and limestone, if such rocks had been there, would be- 
come almost pure calcareous soils. Of these, liowever, there were 
almost none, in the Piedmont region. It would have been only the 
rocks of mixed composition, containing lime, magnesia, or potash^ 
as hornblende, soap-stone, granite, &c., that separately could have 
made compound soils, of even moderate fertility. The tide-water 
region would have been very different. Consisting of the upheav- 
ed marl, that u of sand and clay witli abundant calcareous and 
some other fertilizing ingredients (phosphate of lime, common salt, 
and in some cases sulphate of lime,) the disintegration would have 
produced soils with abundant elements of fertility, and as much su- 
perior to those of the Piedmont region, as in later time, and by dif- 
ferently operating causes, the soils of the tide-water region were 
actually and generally worse than the other.-^. 

But, in point of fact, there cannot long remain any earth, or soil, 
formed by disintegration of rock, free from foreign admixtures. — 
Transporting and mixing agencies are never altogether wanting — 
and earths, thus formed by nature, cannot long remain separate. 
On a naked surface, (and much more after tillage has been intro- 
duced,) the winds have a very powerful agency in removing soil 
from every exposed space to every other neighboring locality. — 

following beds were successively dug through. Their several depths were not noted, 
where stated iu Professor Olmstead'i Report, from which this is copitd : 

1-— '■ Black mould — such as usually found in the eastern swamps, very rich. [Peaty 
formation ?] 

3. — Potter's clay — yellowish brown color. 

3.— Athiu layer of sand, full of sea-shells, and the remains of land-animals, (mammoth 
and fossil elephaut.) A profusion of shells, principally conch-shells, scallops and clams, 
such as are found near Cape Lookout, [recent shells]. The clam-shells, however, arc 
frequently of larger size than the recent. (This layer sometimes wanting). 

4.— A soft blue clay— said by the iuhabitants to correspond in chEracter precisely with 
the mud of the adjacent ocean. 

All the words or figures above within brackets [thus,] are added by the copyist, for 
more full explanation ; and if, in any case erroneous, the errors should not bo charged (o 
the original notes. 

Within a few miles of the boring on Old Point Comfort, nonr P.ack river, tbe niiofone 
marl is within 3 or 4 feet of the surface of the arable Iftnd. 

E. K. 



28 AGRICULTURAL GEOLOGY. 

Water is a much more powerful agenf , in many cases, for trans- 
porting" and intermixing soils. It is not necessary here, and for 
this case, to describe such effects — or of the more moderately acting 
powers of the atmospliere, rain, and changes of temperature — 
inasmuch as all such milder agencies and influences were superse- 
ded, in this case, by one immeasurably more powerful. This was 
the great flood which deeply washed away and denuded the sur- 
face and especially the higher portions of the upper country, and 
spread the removed earth, in drift, deeply over all the lower coun- 
try, and carried oif the finer, lighter and richer parts to be partly 
accumulated under eddying or tranquil water, or more generally 
wasted in tlie ocean. 

Geologists have ascertained the former existence, and have 
traced in many localities the course and the effects, of an ancient 
and mighty flood of water, rushing from the north, and which has 
left abundent traces of its passage, and results of its transporting 
violence and power, and the later deposition of its burden of sus- 
pended and di-ifted earth. It is not needed to quote authorities for 
the former existence of such a flood, or to discuss any of its suppos- 
ed causes and sources. I do not know whether any competent Ge- 
ologist has examined, in reference to this flood, the particular regions 
hero under consideration. But nowhere can evidences of the drift 
operation and formation, (as here understood,) thus produced, be 
more distinct and more generally manifest, than in the great area 
which is here termed the drift region. 

Over the surfaces which now make the eastern portions of Vir- 
ginia, Nort.i Carolina and the neighboring Atlantic States, the 
course of tlie flood was from north-west to south-east. In the same 
direction, or nearly such, also, is the general direction of all the 
rivers, ])assing through the tide-water region, or of the broad bot- 
toms through which these rivers there meander. These wide bot- 
toms were marked ard cut out by the earlier and more violent cur- 
rents of this great flood, while its later and less violent and shal- 
lower waters yet covered all the intervening spaces or intervals 
between the lower borders of the present rivers. 

What was the height, violence, and duration of this flood can no 
more be known than its cause or source. It doubtless came from 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. £9 

westward of the Blue Ridge mountains, and it may have even over- 
topped their present heiglit. It probably was more than a thousand 
feet in depth, when rushing over the now Piedmont region — and 
during its long eastward passage, swept off some hundred or more 
feet in depth of earth and rock — depositing the transported earth 
over the lower lands, and in the ocean. I have had but small op- 
portunity to trace the effects of this flood in the upper country, 
which is supposed to have been thereby generally denuded ; though, 
in numerous lower places, it received and retained the materials 
removed from the still higher lands farther westward. If the gen- 
eral fact be true of such a flood having been poured in such a di- 
rection, ever)^ careful observer, in his own neighborhood, can find 
enough of facts for confinnation — or for contradiction, if the doc- 
trine is not true. In a hilly part of the upper country, the evi- 
dences of such action may be sought for in various results, which 
would be modified by every different shape of surface. If the loose 
stones are rounded, it shows that they were waiter-rolled. If there 
are no rounded pebbles, except such as are of very hard material, it 
shows that these had been transported a long distance, in travers- 
ing which, all the softer aluminous and calcareous stones had been 
rubbed to powder, or so as to be suspended in, and floated off 
by water. If the hill-sides facing the north and west are always 
steeper than the sides towards the south and west — and still more, 
if the latter have on their lower slopes and at their bases, accumu- 
lations of rolled pebbles and rounded gravel, decreasing in size with 
increasing distance from the hill, all these w^ould be striking evi- 
dences of the action of such a flood, and of its direction. 

In the tide- water region, the results now visible, at the surface, 
are not of denudation, but of universal covering by drifted matter 
— pebbles, gravel, sand, and more rarely, clay. Yet the denuding 
agency was in operation here, also, at first, and powerfully, before 
the abated violence of the flood permitted the deposition of sedi- 
ment. The early denuding action may be seen in numerous cases. 
On the upper surface of many beds of higher-lying and firm marl, 
there are numerous narrow and deep depressions, either funnel- 
shaped, or cylindrical with nearly perpendicular sides, which 



;J0 AGRICULTURAL GEOLOGY. 

were evidently cut out by the whirling currents of rapid water. 
These hollows in the marl are filled by a fine and loose reddish 
earth, of subsequent deposition. Such a whirl of water could not 
have existed at the bottom of the sea — or if existing, and strong 
enough to thus excavate compact marl, it would have been perma- 
nent, and must have; prevented shell-fish living there, or the loose 
and light dead shells, and their small fragments, remaining there. 
The shells of other marl, and in numerous localities, have been 
abraded to coarse powder, and removed and deposited elsew^here, 
according to specific gravity, together with tlie sand and other ma- 
terials of the bed. But the most striking illustration of this former 
denudation of marl may be seen along tlie Pamunkey river, where, 
for 20 or 30 miles, I have traced the different (now slightly inclin- 
ed) layers of the orighialbed, successively rising to, and " cropping 
out," or sliowing higher in the present bed, as the observer pro- 
ceeds up the river ; or otherwise, as going eastward (down the 
course of the river,) each such layer successively dips and disap- 
pears.* After much of the upper and then exposed edges of the 
different layers of marl had been so washed away, so as to make a 
new and nearly horizontal surface, then the flood, in after time, and 
with abated velocity, brought from above and deposited thereon, 
first its coarser sediment, of rolled pebbles, and then gravel and 
sand, and finally the lighter and richer earth which now makes the 
surface soil of the bottom land. 

The evidences, in visible exposures, of this early denuding action 
on the now tide-water region, are rare, because they were subse- 
quently covered and concealed by the now overlying deposits of 
drift earth. But of the later and general deposition of the drift, 
abundant evidences are visible, some of which may be seen in al- 
most every excavation, or surface of any exposed perpendicular 
section of earth. These appearances of the strata, serving as proofs 
of their origin, will be described hereafter. 

It has been supposed and maintained above, that at the earliest 



* A description and figured illustration of this, in •• Essay on Calcareous Manures" at 
pages 483-5 of 5th Edition. 



SKETCHES OF J.OWEJi KOKTil CA1<0I>1NA, AC. ij I 

time indicated by the geological facts observed, the ocean extended 
as far westward as the line of the present granite falls, and was of 
sufficient depth for the production, and successive Hving and dying 
of the shell-tish, whose remaining shells and fragments constituted 
the beds of the now remaining marl. Subsequently this area of 
tertiary formation, on its western side, was, by volcanic force, up- 
heaved high above the surface of the ocean, and less and less so to- 
ward the east, if the eastern side (of former ocean bottom,) was not 
actually depressed. (Near the present sea-coast the marl lies much 
lower than the level of the ocean ; at Norfolk, as much as 40 feet). 
Next, of this new raised surface of marl, where highest or otherwise 
most exposed, the ujiper portion was w^ashed oft by the violent cur- 
rent of the flood from the north-west ; and the removed material of 
shells was again deposited either at short distances, and in new 
layers of marl, composed of the rubl)ish and small fragments of 
shells-^or, otherwase, much of the more reduced and lighter calca- 
careous matter w^as floated far into the ocean, and lost. Next, by 
the first abating of the violence of the flood, its currents ceased to 
denude the lower and flatter surface of the now tide-water region, 
and then the flood began to leave thereon the earth torn from the 
higher country. 

To trace the operation of the great flood, and the depositing its 
burden of drift stony and earthy matter, we have only to consider 
the enormous volume and power of the water, the general direc- 
tion, and also the many variations of the currents, and then look 
to the existing condition of the drift region or the results, and 
also or the explanation of many (at first) embarrassing diflficulties 
in particular facts and matters of observation. 

Whatever w^as the cause or source, and also the duiation of so 
mighty a flood, the violence of the current must have varied much 
at different times, and under changing conditions, so as to produce 
various effects, both in removing and depositing the materials of 
drift. At first, and when the current was most rapid, and its vo- 
lume greatest, nearly its whole operation was denuding, or remov- 
ing earth and stone, and below as well as above the present falls. 
As the first, and greatest violence of the flood moderated, it began 



32 AGRICULTURAL GEOLOGT. 

and continued to drop the transported matters on all the more east- 
ern surface — and also to extend that surface more and more into and 
above the ocean, and making more and more of what is now the 
low-land, bordering on the present ocean beach. There was not 
only the general and gradual lessening of the volume and violence 
of the flood, serving generally to change the manner and kinds of 
its deposited earth, but also many changes of the direction and 
force of particular currents, producing at particular places succes- 
sive and many changes of their power and eflects. Thus, at one 
place, the covering water was at some times a violent and denud- 
ing current, and at other times comparatively tranquil, or eddying. 
And such fluctuations might return and be re-produced along the 
same course, as obstructions of hills, or high shoals, in the upper 
country served to direct and divert the currents, or as the subse- 
quent removal (by washing away) of such obstacles, allowed the 
current to take a new direction and shorter course, and with re- 
newed violence, to the ocean, and its former channel to be filled by 
comparatively tranquil water, and raised by its deposited sediment. 
The channel or passage-way of each of these particular and tem- 
porary currents, in the now drift region, would, for the time be 
deepened, by washing away the still soft and loose deposit of the 
then very recent soft sediment. In these deepened channels of 
the more rapid currents, the heaviest drift materials only could be 
left — either large or small pebbles, gravel or coarse sand, according 
to the then burden and action of the current — while in the more 
tranquil water, close on each side, the finer suspended earth only 
would be let fall, and there raise the bottom by the accumulation, 
even while the strong current alongside might be still deepening . 
its channel, and bearing off" the removed earth. Then, as the di- 
rection and positions of particular currents would be changed, the 
channels previously cut out, and then covered by more tranquil 
water, would be filled with the finer and lighter suspended earth — 
and the new currents would cut new and deep channels through 
the previously formed shoals, sweeping the fine drift much farther* 
or even into the ocean, and dropping into the new deep channels 
the drifted stones, or other materials too heavy to be carried far- 



\ 

f 
SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 33 

tlier by the slackening force of the water. While the great flood, 
yet covered deeply the whole land, both of the now denuded and 
tlie drift regions, of course the general operation of the water 
would be to drop the heaviest of the transported earth first, and the 
lightest, last — as large stones, smaller pebbles, gravel, coarse and 
fine sand, clay and lime, in succession. But this general manner 
of operation would be altered on almost every locality, by the 
changes of direction of the minor currents, and their cutting new 
channels in the previously deposited drift, and filling old channels. 
Thus, it would necessarily happen, (as may be seen in mimerous 
exposures,) that an inferior stratum of fine and light drift material 
was sometimes overlaid by another of much heavier parts — as 
sand, or gravel, and even large pebbles lying over a bed of clay, or 
clayey sand. 

So far, the great flood, however abated in depth and power, has 
been considered as still covering the whole area of the now drift 
region. But later, as the water still diminished, its flow would be 
contracted to the last made channels of the latest partial currents — 
and the broader hitervals between these channels would be gradu- 
ally left bare, and Ije no longer subject to changes, either in losses 
by secondary denudation, or of gains by accession of drift. These 
high interval lands are now the highest ridge or table land of the 
drift region — of which the plane of their general outline and high- 
est surface, is remarkably even, and nearly horizontal — but gradu- 
ally and regularly dipping from the height above the falls of the 
rivers to the sea shore. The water, now confined to the channels 
of the last formed currents, within these passages still had great 
force, which was in part exerted in continuing to deepen the then 
channels. But the borders of these passage-ways would necessari- 
ly be higher, and the covering water, shallow and more trancjuil ; 
and on such places, the stiller water would begin to deposit its finer 
and richer suspended earth, while, where deep and swift, in the middle 
of the current, it would be still cutting its channel deeper, (into the 
previously deposited drift,) and bearing off the loosened earth to- 
wards the ocean. The water, continuing to decrease in volume, 
would next be drawn within narrow^er limits of breadth, and thus. 



34 AGKICULTUliAL GEOLOGY. 

leave bare the outer and higher margins, after having previously 
covered these also with a deposit of tlie lighter and richer eaith. — 
This process would continue to be repeated, until the flood entirely 
subsided. Tlien the latest and deepest cut channels, for the latest 
currents, would be left bare, and to serve as broad bottoms through 
which the present rivers flow, in meandering beds. 

Instead of pursuing and describing the sv.pposed progress of these 
changes, I w^ill refer to existing facts of the drift region, open to 
present observation, and will concisely indicate the conformity of 
these facts with the supposed causes, as above presented. 

1. — All the rivers, and also the estuaries and bays, which empty 
through the tide-water region, from New York to Georgia, have 
their general courses directing between south and w^est, and most- 
ly nearer to the middle between these points than "to either extreme. 
Such, or as nearly as could be, must have been the directions of 
the various se})arate currents of tlie great flood, which marked and 
excavated the bottoms through which these rivers and estuaries 
flow. 

2. — The number and close vicinity of many of these rivers, and 
also the depths and widths of their channels or beds, have no rela- 
tion or proportion to the amount of water now requiring channels 
for their discharge. This last fact, if considered without reference 
to the cause here supposed, would be a geogi'aphical puzzle. It 
would be incomprehensible, for example, why four great channels 
should have been provided, and so near together, for the lower wa- 
ters of the Potomac, Rappahannock, York and James rivers. Still 
more incomprehensible would it be, why the five hirge rivers (or 
rather estuaries) w^hich empty into the north side of Albemarle 
Sound, should exist, and in so small a space, and their head-springs 
so near together, nearly all rising in the Dismal Sw^amp, when all 
their very scant supplies of w^ater would have ample room for pas- 
sage through the smallest of these sundry channels. Of these ri- 
vers, the Chowan only receives, from the small head tributaries (the 
Mehemn, Nottow^ay and Blac^kw^ater,) a moderate supply of water 
from the land, but not enough to need for passage-way, one-twentieth 
part of the broad Chowan, five miles wide near its moiitii. Yet 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, A.C. 35 

tlio next rivor ('oiiiini>- from the north-west, the groat Roanoke, dis- 
charges much more water than all the other live rivers, and yet its 
lower channel is more contracted than the least and shortest of the 
other rivers. Here, more marked than in other cases, it is seen that 
the passage-ways of the rivers bear no proportion to the volumes of" 
water they now convey ; and, therefore, the existing rivers could 
not have been the agents which cut out their valleys and passage- 
ways. 

8. — Another puzzle would be to discover, what has cut out and 
shaped the several successive ]:)road and Hat terraces which, on one 
or both sides, border all our rivers in the drift region, and wdiich 
are termed " first," " second" and " third low-grounds," when 
there are so many as three fiats below the highest or table land. — 
One or more of such terraces are seen on rivers whose highest wa- 
ters <*au never approach the lowest surface of such land. Moreo- 
ver, the breadths of these highest fiats are entirely disproportioned 
to the sizes of their respective rivers, and the amounts of water they 
convey even at the highest floods. But, narrow as is the Pamunkey, 
(for example,) and slight the rise of its highest inundations, the size 
of the ancient current, which cut out this bottom, might, at first, 
well have required all the very wide space between the first cutting 
down of the now table land, (thereby shaping the third terrace, or 
highest " low-ground,") and next, for the lowered and contracted 
current, the deeper and narrower depression of the second terrace, 
(usually there from three to five miles broad,) through which broad 
bottom the present narrow river mtnmders, among smaller spaces 
of " first low-ground," which latter only is subject to be covered 
by the highest freshes of the river. 

4. — The strata of the drift region are nearly horizontal eveiy- 
wliere, and usually the divisions between the different strata, as of 
sand and clay, do not run into each other, by gradual change or in- 
termixture, but alter sudderdy, and at a well defined line of separ- 
ation. Each stratum, separately, may exhibit in itself, and in the 
manner of its deposition, the operation of specific gravity ; that is, 
in sand and gravel beds especially, the coarser and heavier parts 
are seen at and near the bottom of the stratum, and the grains are 



36 AGRICULTURAL GEOLOGY. 

smaller and lighter as lying nearer to the top. But there is no snch 
rule as to di lie vent contiguous strata ; and the bed of heavier par- 
ticles is as often above as below one of much lighter material. For 
example : near Richmond, along the Mechanicsville road, there is ex- 
posed to view a high-l3^ing stratum of rounded pebbles, many of 
large size, compactly imbedded in gravelly sand, resting upon a 
stratum of clay, and in immediate contact with the clay. At the 
Tan river landing, at Taul)orough, North Cai'olina, there is a deep 
gully, perpendicular to the course of the river, which exposes well 
to view an extensive cross-section of the bank. There a stratum 
of sand overlies another of clay, the lighter earth, which would be 
impossible, if both these earths had been suspended together in the 
same overflowing water, or deposited under the same circumstan- 
ces. Like examples may be seen in almost every considerable ex- 
cavation and exposure of difierent strata. And all such facts go 
to prove that each separate stratvmi, in one locality, was deposited 
under nearly uniform conditions of the flood, and therefore accord- 
ing to speciHc gravity. But the changes, from one to another of 
the strata were caused by changes of the conditions of the flood, 
and perhaps also by different supplies of drift materials, successive- 
ly broken down and transported. 

5. — Large stones, generally of granite, say fi-(an 100 to 2,000 
pounds of weight, tire seen rarely, and only along the mai'gins of 
rivers, or on their terraces, between the falls and twenty miles be- 
low. Other rounded or rolled stones, extremely hard, and usually 
of smoothly worn surfaces, extend still lower down the country, 
and especially along the rivers. These latter stones lie; mostly in 
distinct beds, compactly and closely imbedded in gravel and coarse 
sand ; but in otlier cases, they are thinly scattered. These stones, 
where washed out l)y the river banks in quantity, have supplied the 
best nuiterials ior paving the streets of the towns. Rolled pebbles 
are rarely found, and only of small sizes, lower down the countr}^ ; 
and at fifty miles below the lalls, scarcely any small pebbles can be 
seen, and none at one hundred miles, and even gravel is there very 
rare. Within twenty miles below Augusta, on the Savannah, peb- 
bles are entirely absent. All these fiicts obviously would be results of 



SKETCHES OF LOAVER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 37 

tho various operations of the supposed great flood, in tearing up and 
])eariiig oti' tJie rocks of the liigiier c(nnitry, rolling and rounding 
and ifduciug the harder, and grinding to powdei' the softer — and 
leaving the heaviest remains where the velocity of the current be- 
gan to slacken, and the lighter in succession, in the farther modera- 
ted progress of the burdened waters. 

0. — While the flood, at its greatest height and power was rolling 
along and depositing larger or smaller stones and pebbles, the silici- 
ous sand, derived from the same stony beds and materials, or other- 
wise washed out and separated from the previous earthy beds, 
would be borne along in much greater quantity, and successivelv 
deposited, in the order of the specific gravity of its particles, or as 
j)ermitted by the abating violence of the flood, when ovei- the n:iost 
level bottom and nearly reaching to the sea. The gravel and coarse 
sand would stop first, and in least quantity. Tlie finer sand would 
be suspended by the water longer, carried farther, and afterwards 
be deposited, more uniformly, and in greatest quantity, and as one 
of the earliest deposits there, on the then bottom, near to, or even 
beyond the previous margin of the ocean — and forming the lower bed 
of newly deposited earth, spread out by the flood into the ocean, and 
removing Mill larther eastward its former sliore-line. Thus would be 
formed the existing lower aa/ul-bcJ, which is general, but very irre-- 
gular in thickness, and of coarse particles, on the higher parts of the 
drift region, and the sand becoming finer, and the deposit more thick 
and imiform, as extending farther from its sources, and dropped by 
more ti-anquil water, on the lowest and most level bottom. This 
great, and ncnv underlying bed of pure sand, sloping very gradvuil- 
ly downw^ard towards the ocean (in the direction of the course of 
the former flood.) and subsequently covered more or less deeply by 
the later and usually more clayey deposits, is the great or univer- 
sal water-bearing under-bed — and which, both when dry at top, or 
entirely filled and surcharged with water, (derived from a higher 
level of the sand-bed, in the higher countiy,) has most important 
relations to the natural wetness and the means for artificial drain-- 
age of the country. The existence and the remarkable features of 
this great under-lying sand-bed, are all manifest results of the sup- 



38 AGRICULTUEAL GEOLOGY. 

posed manner of geological formation, by tlio action of a great flood 
from the north-west — and no satisfactory explanation can be aftbrd- 
ed in any other hypothesis, or reasoning.* 

7. — Besides, in regard to the ronnded stones, which have been 
carried to varions distances below the falls, the kinds of earth de- 
posited, and the shape of the present surface of the land, are both 
much more varitnl in the country next below the falls, than much 
nearer to the sea. In the Ibrmer, there is no obvious depression of 
level of the table land. Far back from the tide-water rivers, the 
interval ridges, or table lands, between them, are generally level, 
and the depressions and beds of streams are shallow. But within a 
few miles of the larger rivers, the table land is cut down by nu- 
merous deep and narrow ravines, obviously formed by the passage 
of the smaller but yet powerful former currents, though now serv- 
ing only to convey rivulets. Tlie soils of the higher part of the 
drift region, next below the falls, are various. The level surface of 
the high table land, is generally of very fine particles, mostly silici- 
ous, but of closer texture, and stiller than any other neighboring 
soil, or than most of true clay soils elsewhere. This fine and stiff 
sandy soil, was the last deposited at that place, by the then shallow 
and retreating, aiid nearly tranquil water of the flood, while the 
deeper and divided currents were still rushing furiously, and deep- 
-ening the broad bottoms in which the present risers flow. When 
the last covering waters left the table land, they, in passing off, cut 
down, through the previously deposited (and yet soft) drift, the 
most considerable of the deep and narrow ravines just described. 
But some, and these the steepest ravines, have been opened, or ex- 
tended, through high ground, in eastern localities within very re- 
cent times, and under the eyes of pei'sons now living, without the 
aid of more water than was supplied temporarily by rains. To 
this cause (and mostly in long passed times) may be ascribed the 
excavation of all the narrow and deep, and very steep-sided ravines 
which traverse the highest borders of our tide-water rivers, and 



« The great importance of understanding the position and operation of this broadly 
extended under-bed of sand, in aid of drainage, will be again referred to, and more ful- 
ly treated, in subsequent articles of these Sketches. 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, cVC. '39 

empty therein — while the much more extensive and brotider Vcilleys 
with gently sloping hill-sides were still earlier seooped ont by the 
later currents ot the great flood, and the sides were subsequently 
sloped and smoothed over by later opcratious ol' natural causes. 
But in either case, every valley or ravine was cut down through 
the previously d<^posited drift, and jnust have exposed, on each side, 
a section of all the various strata before deposited, iiom the surface 
of tht' table-land and later deposited drift, to the oldest at the bot- 
tom of the ravines. The sloping sides of such valleys inust ne- 
cessarily have soils composed of these several strata intermixed 
by rains and winds, and subsequently by tillage. Such mixed 
soils, though far fmm rich, are usually richer than the surface of 
the table land, with its one general soil of fine and close silicious- 
sand. 

The entire mass of earth, of various strata, excavated by the 
flood — not only from these narrow ravines, and small valleys, but 
from the broad valley's cut out by the greater currents, and in 
which the rivers now flow — intermixed, and transported by the 
later currents, served as materials to be deposited on the succes- 
sive terraces, or elsewhere to fill depressions. This mixture of 
various materials, with other and richer matters from the upper 
country, served to make the good soils of the lower countiy,, 
which are called "low-grounds," and usually and improperly de- 
signated as -'alluvial.'' If the valleys had been cut through beds- 
of marl, as generall}- was the case below the falls, then enough 
of the admixture would certainly have made material for rich soil. 
But if no such sup'.>ly of calcareous material was intermixed m 
the valley of a river, the flat lands, bordcj'ing thereon, would pro 
bably be comparatively poor. 

8. — As proceeding towards the ocean, the present si.rface of the 
drift region declines in elevation niore and more, and becomes- 
more and more level. These conditions are the necessary results- 
of the out-spreading of the flood, and of the finer sand and the 
clay being carried farthest. There was no longer en i ugh height 
of the deposit, above the level of the ocean, to permit the cutting 
down of any but shallow valleys and ra\ines. The soil of the 
higher ground is almost uniformly sandy and poor. The shallow 



40 AGRICULTURAL GEOLOGY. 

depressions are more external, and level, and hy accessions of 
vegetable matter, becan;e ric;b s\\'ain[) sol! — a iorniation of soil 
i iter than tbe drift. Where nearest to the ocean, and to the 
neighboring" estuai'ies and sonnds, the surface o^ the land is l)nt a 
few feet above ordinary high tide — and large spaces, even of firm 
irroiind, are too low for safe cultivation. 

If the differences of agricultural character between the soils of 
the tide-water region and of most of the Piedmoiit lands, (as sta 
ted in an early part of these remarks,) result from their difl'erent 
geol 'gical conditions, as being respectively drift-formed and de- 
nuded soils, then it ^vill be important to ascertain precisely the 
line of separation of these great areas. If sundry points in this 
line were ascertained and made known, by resident observers, it 
would be eas}', by drawing a line on the map through nil these 
pdnts, to designate the common boundary of both the denuded 
and drift regions. In the latter, the wdiole of the tide-water dis- 
trict is included. If the primitive rocks and soil, in place, are to 
be found eastward of the falls, they are overlapped and concealed 
by the drift formation. Only one obvious instance of this has 
been observed bj' me, at the Halifax feny, on the south side of 
the lloanoRe, and about seven miles below the falls. There, in 
the steep river bank, the di'ift, in horizontal layers, is seen over- 
lying the denuded, stony and greatly inclined strata, and the ex- 
act line of separation between the two is distinctl}' marked. The 
drift formation may be always known, where sections of earth are 
exposed to view, by the strata of different eart' s, as sand, clay, 
gravel or rounded pebbles, being nearly or apparent!}- quite hori- 
zontal, and usually separated from each other by precise lines of 
demarkation. And in each bed of earthy material, there are man- 
ifest evid;nices of the earth having been suspended in (or rolled 
by) and then deposited from water. The rocks of the igneous 
I'egions either exhibit no stratification, or otherwise strata contort- 
ed, or it s^-raight, the lines of separation are greatly inclined. In 
exposed sections, the earth often shows its origin from disintegra- 
ted rock, of which the process is not yet completed. Where the 
fragments of rocks whether in oi- lying above the earth, are angu- 
lar, and none rounded, that will show that they have not been 



SKETCHES OF LOWER' \ORTH CAROLIX.A, &.C. 41 

water-borne, or rolled — £i3 is ahvayT tho cr.v- 

(Irift-rogioii. Still, within the do . ■ 

raiiiiy places, wliicliwei'c formerly bai:iu-aliaped »:• ; 

lower tlir.a the former general surface, and V7h' '■) 

filled with drift, and so remain, though with f 

raised to the level of the sniTOunding denuded i 

interesting qncotion wdiether these spots exhibit th' ;. ... 

tural peculiarities as do the lands of the great lower d- ' 

There must, ho- •. ever, from the nature of the cas?. •• 

ence : In these limited spaces' of do"'""~~^"'~'^. '"~' 

vering by drift, the transpcii:ed matcil \o 

adjacent high land, and could not have been. mnel. 

trition and suspension — whereas, the drift that cove: 3r 

land had been coniplstely changsd, chGmleaHy as we._ le- 

chanical texture, by its long transportation, attrition or siisDen- 

sion in water. 

The differences bctv;: .: C2 coils cf '/^ -e diSer;-.::: : in 

physical and also the more chvious : /_ sii eh^- ."?, 

striking as they arc, are less important thisn d-iferr 
cal constltuticu, which no eheraist ha'] '•^'- ^ -■-■■■-'■ 
analysis of the diflerent soils^ or has c . 

on the obscurit}' ot the subject. Though I cnder. . -:e 

the attention of scientific men to those difficultie.:; '~:iy yer.rs 
ago, I am no more able now than then, from any such scurco of 
information, to supply the still noedod explanations. 

As stated concisely before, on the whole of the .' ' -• ;-.p p-. 
gian, lime, or carbonate of lime, as manure, has 1:: ' ro 

act beneficially and pi'ofitably — and in the far greater : cf 

cases, (and on all the high ridge, or table or other natuia/.y poor 
land,) this manure has produced beneficial effects more speedy 
and remarkable than have been obtained on any other known 
lands, in any pait of the known world. And on nearly through- 
out this same tide-water region, and on all these lands where lime 
and marl have been found most operative, if gypsum is applied 
before marling or liming the same land, it has no profitable, if any 
even perceptible effect. Yet on the same land, gypsum, before 
of no effect, if applied after good marling or liming, has been of- 

6 



42 AGRICULTURAL GEOLOGY. 

ten found eflectivo — and I suppose, would Le generally effec- 
tive. 

In the denuded region, (within that portion of the Piedmont 
region, in Virginia, embraced in these remarks,) lime is said to 
be generally of no efiect — and in but few of the many experi- 
ments of its application is it reported as producing any benefit, 
either early, or in any after times. Such total failures have been 
mostly on red soils. The few cases of evident benefit were on 
gray soils. Gypsum is said to be m-: re or less operative on most 
of the lands in the denuded region. 

If then, as seems probable, the soils of drift formation are espe 
cially deficient in lime, and will be especially improved by its ap- 
plication, the fact may serve to indicate where lime may be tried, 
above the falls, with a prospect of success — and on what other soils 
and localities there might be expected failure. 

Besides the snre mode of determining the npper limits of the 
drift, by noting the appearance of the stratification. I believe that 
there may be found another test, in the presence, and thrifty growth 
of the lablolly pine, {pinus ta=da). One of the most striking of the 
general differences of the country below the falls, and that above, 
(but not precisely to that line of division), is the very general growth 
(and exclusive second growth,) of pine trees in the former, and the 
general absence of pine in the latter region — and the almost entire 
absence of pine on the most fertile natural soils. These general 
facts, led me long ago to infer (erroneously) that tlie free growth of 
pine was, in itself, a sure indication of unusual deficiency of lime 
in the soil. And this I still deem correct, in the main, and as to 
the particular species of pine, (j). tceda) which formed the exclu- 
sive and luxuriant second growth of nearly all the lands below the 
falls, within my then range of observation. I had not then Ivai'u- 
ed that different species of pines, probably indicating different kinds 
of soils, exclusively occupied different localities, of the same region 
and climate. Much of the worn land in the upper (or Piedmont) 
countries,is occupied as exclusively by second-growth ])ine,(t]iough 
not so speedily,) as the lands below the falls. And in both the up 
per and lower country, these trees of second gi-owth are alike des- 
ignated as "old-field pines;" and the difference of their appearance 
and growth are supposed by most persons to be the effects of differ- 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C, 43 

ence of soil on the same species of tree. But tliese growths, of the 
lower and upi)er localities are generally of different species. The 
almost universal second growth of the lov.-er country being the lob- 
lilly piueipinus tm'la) and of the upper country, as in tlie counties 
of Amelia and Cumberland, ifcc, in Virginia, and Orange, in Korth 
Carolina, a^s exclusively of tlie short-leaf pine, {pinus variaUlis) 
which is the best and ordinary timber pine, of original forest growth 
of moat of the tide-vrater region of Virginia. The latter has very- 
short leaves, growing generally two, but often three from one sheath, 
and very small cones. The former has much longer leaves, grow- 
ing three from a sl'.eath, except in some rare cases, on luxuriant young 
trees, on which some leaves grow four from a sheath. This latter tree 
is a more southern plant, and is not seen generally north of Fred- 
erlcksl)urg, nor at all much farther north. As these two species, 
where equally favored by dim.. te, severally and exclusively occupy 
the abandoned fields of diflferent localities, it would be interestiniy 
to observe whether the common pine of the low country, {p. trnda) 
when found occupying land above the falls, does not indicate the 
presence of drift-formed soil and under-beds — and whether the 
chatige to second growth exclusively of the short-leaf pine, {p. va- 
riahilis) does not indicate a portion of the denuded or primitive for- 
mation. 

The lands of the Piedmont region, (including all the surface here 
treated as part of the denuded region,) in their natural state of fer- 
tility, as found when first settled by the white race, and subjected 
to tillage, (or before the lands were subsequently again denuded, 
superficially and partially, by washing rain-water, acting on the til- 
led and carelessly ploughed slopes, and were further worn out by ex- 
hausting tillage — ) were, in general, far more fertile than the great 
body of the lower drift-formed lands. And further — after most of 
the lands of both regions had been reduced to their former lowest 
state 01 exhaustion, by long continued tillage, and the washiuo- off 
of all hilly surfaces, the lands of the lower country, in general, were 
still much the poorest. Again — since the recent course of improve- 
ment and resuscitation has been begun, and was extensively in suc- 
cessful progress in both regions, and wherever no marl or lime has 
heen used, the lands of the denuded region have been found the most ca- 
pable of being enriched by putrescent manures alone, and restored to 



44 AGHICULTUKAL GEOLOGY. 

a p: "^ '■ ■? ; '' ' :. Yet, between a reg-ion ^vlilcli had formerly 
Ij: : . '"^ ei'-'^i, ?rA another over which that re- 

comparative conditions as to 
i^v.:L'y uu^L: ..3 ^;;v>cc-eJ. ij Lo lovcrsed — and that the i'jrmerly 
denuded lands would have remained the most impoverished, and 
the lands covered with the transported earth, would have been en- 
riched by the spoils of the higher ]andg. Such, undoubtedly Avould 
have been the results, if the upper region had been merely stripped 
of its richer surface soil, or, in addition, of no great depth of sub- 
soil — and the removed earth, in mixture, had been equally distribu- 
ted over all the surface of the lower lands, and whether these had 
first been also denuded, or nut. But this was very nir from being 
the case, as appears from the existing geological indications and 
evidences, l^ot only was the soil of the upper lands swept off, but 
the inferior earth, and stone, to great depths, were torn up and re- 
moved from the denuded region. Alter losing the richer surface 
soil, it mattered little, for the fertility of all below, whether a great- 
er depth of 2 or 10, or 100 feet, was also removed. Whatever re- 
mained as the new surface, after the denuding process had ceased, 
and at v/hatever depth below the original surface, was composed of 
the same rocks, of igneous origin, which had served to form the 
original upper or surface layer — and which, by the subsequent dis- 
integration^ &c., had served a] materials for the first formed earth 
and soil. l^Tow nearly all these igneous rocks contain some lime, 
magnesia, or potash ; and these, and also other of the ingredients, 
by their intermixture, are well fitted to constitute soils capable of 
acquiring and retaining fertility. And in sufficient lapse of time, 
and underNature's care aixl operations only, these rocks would be- 
come earth and soil, and such soils would have capacity, (from 
their constitution,) to reach a high grade of fertility. Precisely 
such results do we find of these so'!^, after their being again denu- 
ded and exhausted by tillage, and afterwards manured and well 
nursed under good culture. The impoverished soil, and even the 
farmer subsoil, washed bare and Icf^ at the surface naked and bar- 
ren, are improved by putrescent manures, aided, acmost. -Aily by a 
rttle gypsuai, to an extent impossible to be be ;.pproachol, by like 
means only, 01:; iho great body of the exhanstei land~> of -.'ir; rift 
region. In most of the upper countrys i^and most remarkably on 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, ftC. 45 

the south-west mountain lands,) the sub-soil, if washed bare, is still 
improvable, and to profit, by putrescent manures and atmospheric 
influences. The like naked subsoil, or washed slopes of the lower 
or drift region, whether of red clay or sandy, is incapable of being 
thus enriched, without the previous application of calcareous ma- 
nure, in lime, marl or wood ashes. 

Now let us consider whether the addition of the transported drift 
to the lower lands, was likely to furnish good soils, such as materi- 
als were left for in tlie new surface of the denuded region. 

If all of the materials removed froni the higher lands had been 
deposited, in mixture, on the lower, and no matter of what depth, 
the result, in time, would have been to produce as good or better 
soil than much longer time would serve to produce of the new sur- 
face of the upper and denuded region. But it is obviously impos- 
sible for the various ingredients of the drift to have thus remained 
in mixture, and to be so deposited. The lower stones, pebbles, 
gravel, and other next heavier parts, (not yet rubbed down to fine 
earth by the moving power,) and moved in largest masses by the 
flood down its steepest course, would stop first and nearest below 
the falls, and in something like mixture with each other, and with 
the accompanying earth. These heavier stony parts by their subse- 
quent disintegration would constitute soils the nearest in quality to 
those of the denuded region whence these materials were brought, 
with but little change. The like inference may be drawn as to the 
isolated patches of drift which fill former depressions in the since 
generaHy denuded region. The flood, having dropped these hea- 
vier parts of its burden, would next, (having less violence of 
current, because then passing even a less inclined surface,) drop the 
coarser sand in the stronger currents, and finer sand in the less rapid 
waters. This sand was spread over the whole of the gently inclin- 
ed planes of the first surface, and far past the previous shore line of 
the ocean. At later times, and in broad spaces of more tranquil 
water, the finest sand, with a very little clay intermixed, was depo- 
sited, in other and higher beds ; and in the still rapid water, this 
fine eartii was carried much nearer to the n-esent ocean, and thence 
spreac '■;«'■ bvoao. -paces of XLk .resent sanace of low land. This 
main-; '.licious mixture is comnL/Lily kii)wn as clay, or clayey soil. 
There is very little of true clay soil in all the drift region. The pure 



46 AGEICULTURAL GEOLOGY. 

clay, and all other of the lighter parts of the transported earth, in- 
cluding most of the lime and organic matter, and parts of original 
fertile soil, were mostly floated off into the ocean, and so lost to the 
land over which it had passed. Even the pebbles of limestone, soap- 
stone (containing magnesia,) the slates and other clay-stcties, all be- 
ing of the softer rocks, were rnbbed down, by their long rolling and 
attrition, to the hnest particles, which remained snspended as long, 
and were floated as far. and were as generally lost, as the most fer- 
tile parts of the previously existing soil. Under such circumstan- 
ces, of removal and suspension of the materials, and the manner and 
places of theii- flnal deposition of the drifted earth — or any condi- 
tions to be supposed, if in accordance with the operating cause, in a 
great and violent descending flood — how was it possible that any 
earths could be deposited generally over, or even ni.der, the latest 
formed surface, which would be fit materials to l)ecome subsequent- 
ly fertile soils, or improvable sub-soils ? Or was it possible that the 
actual materials for soils and sub-soils so deposited, could, on the 
general average, be equal in fertilizing ingredients, to either the 
average of the whole ti-ansportod earth, or to the igneous rocks still 
remaining as the new surface of the upper denuded i-egion, and 
serving to produce new soils by their subsequent disintegration and 
mixture ? On the contrary, evei-ything in the supposed pi-oo.ess of 
the removal and transportation of the drift materials, was conducive 
to the production of the actual low degree of fertility f)rmerly and 
naturally existing on the far larger portion, including all the table 
lands and high surfaces, of the now tide water region. 

But there were, on the narrow mai'gins of the high lands border- 
ing on the rivers, and still more in tlieir lower and broader ten-aces, 
and in sundry other low depressions of surface, many exceptions 
to the general rule of the depositions of sterile earth over the drift 
region. Many bodies of such lands were formerly of great natural 
fertility, and have continued to be of very superior agricultural va- 
lue. Ti.ese exceptional rich soils may be easily accounted for. — 
First: all the more fertile and lighter particles of the original soil, or 
of fertilizing materials, were not carried to and lost in the ocean. — 
Some would be retained by eddies, and deposited during the more 
tranquil conditions of the water. Secondly and mainiy : After the 
flood had subsided so as to leave bare the highest broad intervals of 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 47 

table land, and tlie water, reduc-.d as nujcli in violence as in vo- 
lume, was divided into as many sei)arate currents as overspread the 
courses of the present ijreatr'ivei's, these curi'ents, while still cutting 
down and h)wering their deepest channels, were at the same time de- 
positiui!; tlieir suspende I earth wlierever the water was shallow, ob- 
strucred,and nt' course more tranquil. These conditions were necessa- 
rily offered (ivei-;\ll the outer spaces,oi' shallow margins of tlie then se- 
parat d currents. The nctiiui of the upper waters, in tearing up and 
bearing otl'eurtli, and gi-inding down rocks, tlunigh abated, had not 
ceased, and the tui'hi I watei-, still brought down vast quantities of 
earth, into the lower cui'rents. The lighter, finer, and richer of 
these materials would be directed lo the shallow and slower-moving 
waters, and there be depositcl, and produce rich soils. The earliest 
soil so deposited, would be when the separated currents still co^er- 
ed the now higliest river banks or b(»rders, and which are generally 
rich f ii' more or less distance, rarely more than half a mile, from the 
river or from its lower gruunds. These high surfaces, to slight ob- 
servation, seem as ele\ated, and as belonging to, the nearest and al- 
ways p<tor table land. Hence, the marked superior fei'tility of the 
margin, or highest river land, lias seemed strange and unaccounta- 
ble. But I infer that these much rivher strips alongthehigh river 
banks aie invarialdy of somewhat 1 iwer elevation than the adjacent 
table land, and theixd'ore were covered by the shallow and compar- 
atively trancpiil waters of the subsiding flood, and so received a 
share of its rich deposit. As the currents subsided still more, and 
successively wei'e confined to narrower limits of breadth, the lower 
terraces, (or surfaces of *' low grounds") were successively cut down 
out of the previously deposited and poor drift earth, and their new 
surfaces were again added to by the much richer deposit of the wa- 
ter, when it had there subsided so as to be shallow and comparalive- 
Iv sluffffish. Thus the river terraces were enriched, and made the 
most fertile and valuable land of all the tide- water region. 

When the water had subsided to within the present beds of the 
rivers, and the sources of suDply were reduced to springs and rain- 
floods, as now in operation, then the drift deposition ceased, and al- 
luvial agency first began — which has since continued, and will con- 
tinue to raise and enrich the bordering low ground wliich may be 
overflowed, by the deposits of mud left there by the turbid freshes. 



48 AGRICULTURAL GEOLOGT. 

The liiglier terrace, or " second low-grounds," is commonly and er- 
roneously called alluvial land, ai'd its unequal formation ascribed to 
alluvial a;^;'3;iej. In no possible ease, in the present condition of 
the eartn, could the rivers have rissn high enough to o^Trflovr and 
deposite transported mud on their '-' second lOvv-groaaJs,'^ or 
higher terraces of the tide-^'arers. T?.ese higher terraces were en- 
tirely formed, first, ox the older of the general drift deposit ; second- 
ly, they were reduced something below their present height of sur- 
face, by secondary denudation, the current tearing up and sweeping 
off all of tlie higher and more recent beds of drift earth — and third- 
ly, Avhen the water over this lately reduced surface had become so 
low as to be nearly tranquil, then it deposited the lighter and rich- 
er matters, which constii.uie the present rich but various soils of 
such lands. If this reasoning should not remove all the previous 
belief of these terraces being of alluvial formation, any enqnirer 
may easily obtain other and sufficient proof, by examining any deep 
ditch or other excavation in such land, in which the rcn-alluvial 
character of the inferior earth will be obvious to the eye. 

There is a remarkable result of the agencies here supposed, which 
has often attracted notice, and which would seem unaccountable ex- 
cept upon the views here presented. The " second low-grounds," 
or the broad higher terraces of the principal rivers, where passing 
through the drift region, possess, for each river, much uniformity 
of agricultural qualities and character. 

Though there may be, and usually there is, much varia- 
tion of texture and other qualities in different bodies of low- 
grounds on any one great river, still they all have more or less of 
one general character — and are more alike, than the most similar 
of sucli lands on two different rivers. Thus in Virginia and N.Ca- 
rolina, the low grounds of the lower Rappahannock, the Paraunkey, 
the Powhatan, (miscalled James), the Ghickahom'ny, the Notta- 
way, the Roanoke and the Tan, all have low grounds of qualities 
very uniform for each river, and those of each river different from 
the lands of most of the others. To most well informed farmers, if 
a large body of "second low-ground" or ''high terrace" land, on 
either of these rivers were named, without description — and even 
though the particular land and its neighborhood were entirely un- 
known — every such hearer would at once form an idea of the kind 



SKETCHES OP LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, JcC. 49 

of land and something like its value, merely from knowing the river 
near or on which it was situated. As the rivers, and their alluvial 
deposits have no bearing on the lands in question, their remarka- 
ble uniformity of qualities and character can be caused only by 
there having been one common mode of original formation, and 
there having been different supplies of materials, and from different 
localities or sources, for the lands bordering on such of the differ- 
ent rivers. The separated and subsiding great currents supposed 
in the latter time of the drift period and operation, and their then 
separate sources of water and burden of suspended earth, would 
seem to produce and to explain all these remarkable results — which 
seem inexplicable in any other manner. 

The rich soils of the tide-water region form but few exceptions to 
the general condition of a low grade of natural fertility. Of such 
low and poor quality are all the table lands of the broad and high 
intervals, and narrow ridges, between the rivers, and also much of 
the still broader and lower sandy flats nearer to the sea-coast. These 
lands, and much more, formed by deposits from the flood while it 
still covered the highest ground, from the manner of their forma- 
tion, were necessarily at first poor at the surface, as well as through 
the different inferior beds. Then, began those operations of nature, 
by which surface earths, if not destitute of all capacity for being en- 
riched, are gradually converted to soils — which are richer or poorer 
according to the greater or less value of the mineral constituents of 
the earth. First, a scanty growth of diminutive plants would live 
and die, and, to the small extent of their remains, would be increas- 
ed the organic matter at the surface. The soil, thus slowly and grad- 
ually enriched, in time would bring more and larger plants, and 
finally trees, which, sending down their roots to considerable depths, 
would draw up, and by their death and decay, leave on the surface, 
the little proportion of lime and other ingredients essential to ferti- 
lity, which the roots could reach. Thus slowly, and in many cen- 
turies, and by means of the growth and death of many successive 
races of plants, all the scanty mineral manures that had been with- 
in I Wen., feet or more below, might be drawn np and placed at 
the -- 11- fu- . and so enable the soil to hold and to combine with 
proportional quantities of organic manuring matters, furnished im- 



50 AGRICULTUKAL GEOLOGY. 

mediately from the decay of preceding plants grown on the soil, 
aud, remotely, from supplies furnished by the atmospliere. As the 
latter supplies are inexhaustible, there would be no limit to the 
increase of fertility of land thus at rest, and with unlimited time, 
provided there were present enough of all the mineral matters re- 
quired to combine with tlie organic matters, and together to con- 
stitute a fertile soil. But, unfortunately, all tlie higher lands of the 
drift region, and most also of the lands of medium elevation, ow- 
ing to tlie manner of their geological formation, are throughout, 
and greatly deficient in the essential ingredient of lime — without 
some of which, every soil would be absolutely and entirely ! ar- 
ren — and without enough of which, no soil is \ aluable; or can be- 
come or remain rich. To apply the needed lime on these soils, 
(after the necessary draining,) was the great and especially profit- 
able work left, by the Creator, for man, the cultivator to perform. 
And wherever that has been done, the experienced and beneficial 
results have been even more than equal to all that these theoretical 
views and deductions would promise in advance. 

The great drift region, (as here understood,) has been added to 
and in part covered, by two later formations of surface earth for 
extensive though minor portions of the w^hole great space embraced 
within the boundaries of the drift deposit. There are, the formation 
of the beach and coast sands, thrown up by the ocean, and accu- 
mulated and transported by the winds — and the peaty or swamp 
formation, by vegetable growth and deposition. These interesting 
subjects have been designedly passed by here, to be separately con- 
sidered and discussed in later parts of these sketches. 



PA.ET II. 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &c. 



AGRICULTURAL FEATURES OF LOWER NORTH CA- 
ROLINA, AND THE ADJOINING 
TERRITORY. 



I. — General RemarJis. The inihlic hut slightly informed oj the re- 
gion in question, and csiyecially with lower Noi'th Carolina in 
general. 

The eastern portion of North Carolina presents a large region, of 
remarkable features, topographical, geological and agricultural. — 
The enclosed broad sounds, and other waters, are not less interest- 
ing, for tlieir recent and great changes ; and, besides, thej have 
been the scenes ot some of the minor but romantic and interesting 
incidents of history. Into Roanoke Sound, by the then broad open 
passage from the ocean, which is now dyked across by dry land, 
Sir Walter Raleigh's ships entered, and on Roanoke Island they 
planted the first, tliough but ineiFectual, settlement of British col- 
onists in America. In another portion of these now almost land- 
locked waters, there occurred inany of the acts of Teache, or Black- 
beard, the celebrated pirate, and finally, the naval engagement in 
which he was defeated and killed. If tlie lands of this region were 
even worthless for agricultural and economical uses, they would de- 
serve and reward the investigations of the exploring and laborious 
geologist ; and if destitute of all scientific interest, they would de- 
serve far more attention than ever has been bestowed on them, for 
tlieir peculiarities of agricultural character, and capabilities for high 



»S AGRICULTURIL FEATURES. 

improvement and profit. Yet, there is no equal space of territory 
in all the States of the American Union that has been so little visi- 
ted or seen by otlier than its residents, and of which the character 
and values have been so little noticed or known. It is rare that 
any stranger enters this terra incognita. And even of the resi- 
dents of other parts of North Carolina, of the class inclined and ac- 
customed to travel for business or pleasure, where one such has 
seen this portion of their own country, one hundred have visited the 
remote States of the north or soutli, or west. 

The region here referred to, except as to the line of sea-shore, 
has no exact geographical limits — or at least there is no present in- 
formation upon which to designate the extreme southern and the 
whole western boundary. I would include ail of the low-lying and 
very level land, which is the universal cliaracter of all the coast- 
lands of North Carolina, and for a breadth of two to five or more 
counties westward. As soon as the surface begins to loose its ap- 
parent almost perfect level, and to swell perceptibly into rising 
slopes, there should be placed die western or upper boundary of the 
low and flat region which is here referred to generally. The same 
character of country extends northward to the Cliesapeake bay and 
its lowest western affluent rivers ; and how far south of North Ca- 
rolina I am not sufficiently informed to say. In addition to the one 
universal feature of low and level surface of the highest and firmest 
lands, it is much intersected by narrow strips of lower and swampy 
but also firm ground ; and also, immense spaces are occupied by 
largo and boggy swamps,which were impassible, and almost impen- 
etrable by man, until his improvements and labors had produced ar- 
tificial passage-ways. 

This great region affords sundry somewhat connected, but yet 
substantive subjects, for separate treatment. Such are the now cul- 
tivated land and its agricultural condition, and the improvements 
most needed — description of the great swamps, and such agricultu- 
ral improvements as have been there made — the geological origin 
and structure of the different great classes of lands — notices of the 
ocean sand-beach, and the enclosed sounds, and other navigable wa- 
ters, and the changes that have occurred in both, &c. Some others, 
or perhaps all, of these several divisions of the whole great subject 
maybe hereafter discussed. For the present, I will confine myself 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, AC. 58 

to sketch the agricultural features, condition, wants, (and errors of 
culture,) and capabilities of the particular and peculiar agricultural 
region which lies between the Chesapeake bay and Hampton roads, 
and Nansemond river, on the north, the ocean on the east, and 
Albemarle sound on the soutli. On the west, the outline would in- 
clude all the Dismal Swamp. But all the great space, and the cir- 
cumstances of that Swamp proper, will be passed over now, lo be 
resumed and considered in another and substantive article. The 
further extension of the we&tern boundary would include the lower 
Chowan, and the basin of the lower Iloanoke. The area designated 
includes some of the ohlest agricultural settlements and oklest towns, 
and (on the Roanoke especially) some of the richest lands on our 
AtUintic border. It is also intersected by sundry lines of public 
travel, and some of which (the land and water steam-lines to Nor- 
folk) have long been used by numerous passengers. Still, all these 
circumstances do not make this particular agricultural district an 
exception to the general rule or condition of all the great low-land 
region, of being unseen, unknown and little appreciated by stran- 
gers. Of the many thousands of travelers who visit, or pass through 
Norfolk or Poitsmouth on the great routes, scarcely one ever treads 
the soil, except in the towns — or ever sees any of the lands of the 
countiy, except in the rapidly changing glimpses afforded from a 
steam car, or the more distant and uncertain views from a steam- 
vessel. Princess Anne county, which reaches within three miles 
of Norfolk, and Norfolk county, lie wholly in the designated sec- 
tion ; and these counties, out of the towns, are as little known to 
the residents of all other parts of Virginia, as any counties west of 
the Alleghany mountains. Yet, within the heart of one of these 
counties, and within a few" miles of the othei', are the important 
towns of Norfolk and Portsmouth, and the noblest harbor, and one 
of the most important government dock-3*ards and naval stations, of 
the United States. And the country has been as little appreciated 
as it was little known ; and even by its residents, until recently, 
and by those who knew it best, as well as by strangers, who had 
only heard it spoken of and described in the most contemptuous 
epithets. And, though recent improvements of prices of lands, and 
in fewer and more remarkable cases, of pi'oducts and profits, and 



54 ACxUICULTURAL FEATURES. 

still more, and longer, in some of the North Carolina counties, in- 
dicate much actual impi'ovement and higher appreciation, still very- 
few, even of the most intelligent proprietors, are yet fully aware of 
the true and great wants of their lands, and their great capability 
for improvement. Proper drainage alone would double the pro- 
ductive value and the profit of the whole great area of wliat Is 
usually considered the )ioir dry land, and of the firm and partially 
drained swamps. In addition to the pccidiar ^junds for agricul- 
tural improvement and profit in the land itself, no known region 
possesses such great lacilities for navigation, and for choice of mar- 
kets. And, in every respect, no where is there a region where 
agricultural improvement is more needed, and is more available, 
and offers more prospective profit ; and no where have the great 
advantages offered by nature been more neglected, or seem to be 
less know^n. 

For the present, my remarks on this region will be applied espe- 
cially and particularly to the portion lying east of Perquimans river. 
My personal observations did not, at fiist, extend farther west ; and 
much of whatever may be liere said of the country extending be- 
yond Perquimans, and including the lower Roanoke valley, will be 
on report deemed entirely reliable, 

II. — Peculiar characters of tlie low-lands, in surface a7ul qnalities 

of soil. 

The most striking feature of this firm low-land region, is its very 
low and level surface. Large bodies, say of ] ,000 acres or more 
together, are more uniformly level than any as large spaces of allu- 
vial, or other bottom land, on any of the great rivers of Virginia. 
Such botton]-land as borders the Pamunkey river, for example, 
might be called undulating, comjjared to the general greater flat- 
ness of the whole great region under consideration. The numerous 
smaller swamps, interspersed, (which receive and conduct off the 
overflowing surface water,) are, usiuilly, not much lower than the 
adjacent highest ground. 80 far as the eye would indicate, changes 
of level of even so much as a foot of difference, can rarely be per- 
ceived, except in the swamps and depressions which convey the ri- 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, AC, 55 

vers and smaller streams, or temporary rain floods. But changes of" 
level which are barely perceiitible to the eye, are usnally made 
abundantly distinct by the gatliering- of water on the slightly de- 
j)ressed surfaces, which serve to make the numerous swamps oi firm 
soil. A stranger, if ti'aveling through the country in ;iny and dif- 
ferent directions, might suppose that the surface of the land was 
nowhere higher than ten leet above ordinary high tide, or the usual 
height of the navigable and level waters ; but the real heights are 
greater than would thus appear to the eye. In the interior of 
Princess Anne county, at Level Green, (the form of Edward H.Her- 
bert, Esq.,) where the surface seems to the eye as low as any — the 
elevation, as determined by levelling instruments, is about twenty- 
one feet above tide. Still, the variations of our surface-levei are so 
gradual, (except as to the beds of watercourses,) that it is often 
difficult, if not impossible, to reach any outlet for drainage of a few 
feet of fall, without conveying the water by a ditch of some miles 
in length, and through as high, or highei- ground. This feature of 
the surface presents the greatest impediment to the drainage of the 
interior lands, and especially upon the ordinary method of mere 
surface drainage, by open and shallow ditches. 

But with all the slight undulations of surface levels, there is 
nothing to obstruct the view, except the standing crops and fences 
on the farms, and the trees on swamp or other forest lands. Ex- 
cept for these obstructions, any object of the size of a man, or horse, 
could be seen over miles of intervening space and distance. In all 
the great area now under consideration, there is not (native to* the 
locality) a stone, or even a small pebble ; and, in few cases, but a 
little of small gravel.* The soils vary, in diflerent places, between 
open and light sandy loam, and very close compact gray clay, (so- 
called ;) or, perhaps, more correctly, extremely close and compact 
soil and sub-soil, composed mostly of the minutest particles of sand, 



* There maybe, and probably are exceptions, as higher in the tide-water region, in 
some coarse and imperfect sand-stone, recently formed, by ferruginous spring water fil- 
trating ttirough coarse sand, and, in the course of time, cementing with a deposit of 
iron the before separate and loose grains of sand. There are many such racent formations 
of this stone. 



§G AGRICULTURAL FEATUliES. 

and which, therefore, are stifFer, closer and more intractable under 
cultivation than the finest or true clay elsewhere. Of such red and 
yellow clays as make mixny of the best soils and subsoils of the 
upper country, (above the falls, or among the mountains,) none are 
seen here. 

III. — Peculiar characters of the rivers, and the many Jit for navi- 
gation. 

The water-courses are numerous, and many of them are deep 
enough to be navigated by sea-vessels. In some of the smaller ri- 
vers, in parts too narrow and crooked for the ordinary small vessels 
to turn about or to pass each other when meeting, there is enough 
depth of water to float a ship. A glance at this section on a large 
map of North Carolina will show the great number and close neigh- 
borhood of these rivers which flow, nearly parallel to each other, 
into the northern side of Albemarle sound. The lower parts of 
these rivers, where of widths, severally, from one to five miles, are 
more properly estuaries or large creeks, (in the proper sense of that 
word, and not as usually misapplied,) kept full by the refluent wa- 
ter of Albemarle Sound — just as they would be, and to nearly equal 
height, if there was no other supply of water from head-springs or 
rain floods. But even as ascending these rivers, and after they are 
contracted to very narrow widths, and, as appearing on the map, 
the upper channels might be inferred to be merely shallow and in- 
significant streams, they are, in fact, deeji, though narrow rivers, of 
level and slow-moving water, and continuing deep almost to their 
visible head sources; and offer good facilities for navigation to such 
extent, in number and in length of rivers and their sundry branches, 
that one-half of them are superfluous, and, therefore are not put to 
use. If any obstructions exist, they are made merely by trees fallen 
across, and are easily removed. The whole country, and especial- 
ly from Perquimans county to Currituck Soimd, is pervaded by 
broad and deep estuaries near to the Sound ; and their head wa- 
ters, extending near or into the Dismal Swamp, make, wdth their 
many branches, a net-work of natural still-water canals, narrow 
and crooked, indeed, but as deep, as smooth, and as sluggish as ar- 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 57 

tificial canals, and free from the clianges of levels and the obstruc- 
tion of lock-gates, which accompany the benefits of canal naviga- 
tion. Most of these rivei's receive their head waters from the Dis- 
mal Swamp or other Swamps. The water of all is black as seen 
in the rivers, and the color of Brandy or Madeira wine as seen in a 
glass, being thus deeply colored, as are all the swamp waters, by 
the vegetable extractive matters in and on the boggy swamp soils. 
This discoloration is not entirely lost in the salt tide-water of Eliz- 
abeth river, at Norfolk, nor in Curntuck Sound ; where nine miles 
wide, below the former (and now closed) Currituck inlet, w^hich, 
not many years ago admitted deep sea-vessels. 

In traveling along the public road from Elizabeth city. North Ca- 
rolina, to Currituck Coui't House, within the distance of seven 
miles, we passed four navigable water courses, including the Pas- 
quotank and two of its branches. Three of these had draw-bridges 
for the passage of masted sea-vessels. The fourth stream had no 
draw-bridge, because it was not needed in such close vicinity to 
others ; and, also, because, though this branch had abundant depth 
and an open channel for sea-vessels, it was so narrow and crooked 
that the banks and trees standing on the borders would entirely 
obstruct the masts and yards. Such great and numerous natural 
facilities for navigation, as in the many rivers of this region, are 
unequalled ; and they are exceeded by the aid or art, only in th© 
canal navigation of the Dutch Netherlands. 

IV. — General want of Drainage, and of proper views on the sub- 
ject. 

Level as is the general surface, and slight the variations of height, 
in adjacent spaces of all the peninsula between the waters of the 
Chesapeake and Albemarle, still there are frequent slight changes ; 
and these, more than great changes elsewhere, are marked by con- 
sequent differences of character. Every fann of a few hundred 
acres has some of its surface of swamp, and usually undrained.-— 
What is called high or dry land is, indeed, the highest and dryest, 
but mostly still and always suffering more or less for want of suf- 



95 AGRICULTUKAL FEATUBES. 

ficient drainage. The parts which may be only from two to three 
feet lower than the neighboring highest surfaces, are, because of 
the depression only, swamps of wet though firm ground. These 
swamps are very generally of firm soil, and the boggy swamps are 
of entirely different materials and formation. In all this fiat coun- 
try there are very few springs showing at the surface, and but rare- 
ly any springy or oozy places. The water and the wetness of the 
numerous smaller swamps are due entirely to rains. On the high- 
er spots, or larger high spaces, the early settlements were all made, 
and tillage has there been continued, with but little respite, to this 
time. The intermixed lower lands, or smaller swamps, were deem- 
ed worthless, and their culture was rarely attempted until within 
recent times. Yet, even \\ath the imperfect superficial drainage 
which only is in use, these swamp lands are found to be best, and 
of fertility rarely exceeded anywhere. Some of this firm swamp, 
in Perquimans, of which Mr. J. T. Granberry's estate in part is com- 
posed, and which but lately has been drained or brought under cul- 
tivation, he bought lately at $55 the acre, unreclaimed. A highly 
intelligent neighbor told me that he remembered when the same 
land could not have been sold for 75 cents the acre, and was deem- 
ed of no value whatever for tillage. 

The soils and also the subsoils vary in texture from moderately 
light to extremely stiff, close, impervious (now) to the descent of 
water, and remarkably intractable under tillage, and almost always 
either too wet or too dry for good ploughing, even under good 
farmers. Under the worst cultivators such soils are sometimes 
mud or mire, and sometimes of clods almost as hard as brickbats. 
These soils are general or common in Perquimans only. Yet, on 
good farms, of this very difficult soil, there are seen the best (and 
excellent) crops of wheat, and other best crops, of all the counties 
on the sound. The greatest drainage labors and most of the best 
farmers and best cultivation are also in that county ; yet even there 
and though many of the ditches are of great size, and the drainage 
labors are remarkable for their extent and cost, still, almost every 
where, the tilled land is but partially and insufficiently drained. — 
On Biueh the larger portion, perhaps nineteen-twentieths of ail the 



SKETCHES OP LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, *n, ,->9 

cultivated and even highest surface of the whole region, the drain- 
affe is much worse and still more insufficient. 

V. — The true principle of drainage for this region and the geological 
facts oil which the principle is founded. 

The great error of the method of drainage, general in all this 
region, is that the drains or ditches are designed, and only operate, 
to draw the superfluous and, therefore, injurious rain-water from 
and over the surface. The principle I would propose to substitute, 
is to draw oft' (and keep drawn oft") the water which is in excess 
some feet below and up to the surface, and by thus removing the 
before constant saturation or glut of the lower earth, to permit the 
excess of failing rain to sink into the lower earth, and thence pass 
oft* below, instead of being kept on and near the surface, as now and 
heretofore, until it either can ftow oft' on the surface to ditches, or 
is evaporated. Both the existing error and the evil eftects and also 
the benefit of the proposed substituted plan are dependent on the 
geological structure of the land, and especially of its inferior beds. 
But, in advance of all description and reasoning as to the causes of 
the supposed existing phenomena and of tracing the eftects in re- 
ference to draining, I will simply assume the truth of the great and 
all-important fact on which my plan and reasoning are founded. — 
This fact is, that the whole of this low and flat countr)'', at some 
few feet below the surface, (within the extreme limits of from 2 to 
8 feet, and more generally from 3 to 5 feet,) has underlying it abed 
of pure sand, which, at least in all wet seasons, is glutted with wa- 
ter from its bottom to its top. This fact is unquestionable, and 
may be tested easily by every proprietor. But I have to infer, 
from the geological structure of the region and on reasoning, which 
would require too much space to state here, the further fact, that 
this underlying bed of water-glutted sand is nearly horizontal, but, 
like the overlying earth and its surface, has a gentle and general 
dip or declination toward the seacoast, or in a south-easterly di- 
rection.* 



* The geologiofcl viewi were presented in Part I, of tbftJie eerios, at pRg« SiT, aii«i 

»,fhJT. 



%^ AGRICULTURAL FEATURES. 

As to the general presence of the sand bed, it is proved by every 
well that is dug, and not only here, but in such higher localities 
of the tide-water region. In the higher country, and at higher le- 
vels of surface, the sand-bed lies deeper and also, there, generally, 
its upper part is dry, (or without water,) though, by digging deep- 
er, the lower sand, there also, is always found filled (but not sur- 
charged) with water. A like bed of sand underlies most, or all of 
the bottom or low land, along the rivers in the higher tide-water 
counties in Virginia ; and, as I infer from but limited personal ob- 
servations, such sand, with much more regularity of position and 
operation, underlies the whole superficial layers of the great low- 
land region here under consideration. But in these low-lands, the 
sand-bed is naturally always glutted with water, wliich water is a 
source supplying moisture to the overlying earth, and also, by being 
already as full of water as it can be, the glutted sand-bed is an ef- 
fectual barrier to the descent of more rain-water from the surface 
of the land. This sand-bed is, therefore, the great cause of the ex- 
isting wetness of the upper beds, and surface soil, and the reason 
why the usual surface draining is so imperfect in operation. And 
the same feature offers the manner and means for effectual drain- 
age. 

Of course, very few particular facts, and in narrow spaces, have 
been learned from my own peisonal observations in this low coun- 
try. But I had previously discovered the underlying and also wa- 
ter-glutted sand-bed, (concealed from all previous knowledge, as a 
general fact,) below the broad bottom lands of my own fai'rn on the 
Pamunkey river, (in Hanover county, Virginia,) and liad long stud- 
ied its effects ; and in reference to it, had devised, and conducted 
successfully, extensive draining labors. At first, I had supposed 
this remarkable and then newly discovered feature to be peculiar 
to the particular locality of my own farm ; but in the progress of 
my draining operations, and the necessary study of the whole sub- 
ject, and the true principles of drainage, I came to infer, that the 
same feature, of an underlying sand-bed, belongs to the whole of 
the lands of our great tide-water region, and that this sand-bed, 
where dip}>ing lowest, and glutted with M^ater, was the great cause 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 61 

of the evil of excessive w^etness of the low-lying soils above. I felt 
so confident of the correctness of my deductions, that it induced me 
at the first time of leisure, to visit the region in question, to seek 
and to find the facts to confinn and to sustain my theoretical views. 
And before my first visit to this countr}', I ofiered to a friend, resi- 
ding therein, advice for the proper drainage of his farm (by seeking 
for and tapping the glutted sand-bed,) which he acted upon to some 
extent, and found therein the precise effects and all the benefit that 
could have been expected from his limited first operations on this 
new principle. 

To obtain numerous evidences of the very general existence and 
position of the sand bed, it was not required for me to dig or bore 
into the under-lying beds, or even to see the surface of every local- 
ity. Every farm house is supplied with water by one or more 
wells, and these numerous and long used wells, go far to supply 
all the facts required. Whether the sand-bed exists, and near 
enough to the surface to affect its natural drainage, may be learned 
usually from inquiries about the wells, their depths, and the cause 
of the varying quantities of their supply of water. From even but 
a few such examples, and applying thereto my general views deri- 
ved from practice and experience of draining in far-distant localities, 
I was confirmed in the general opinions previously formed, in ad- 
vance of all personal observation. The conclusions thus reached, 
and for which I will proceed to argue for the conviction of others, 
may be thus stated ; that nearly all the higher and firm, as well as 
the lower lands, lying between the Chesapeake and Albemarle 
Sound, are rendered and kept too wet, not (as universally alleged,) 
because the soils or their under beds are of too close texture to per- 
mit the superfluous rain-water to sink, and so be discharged by per- 
colation ; but because the underlying sand-bed is already sur- 
charged with water, and by its supplying moisture upward, 
renders moist earth incapable of drinking up more water from 
above. 

In the upper and middle ranges of the tide-water counties of 
Virginia, the reaching the sand-bed, and its being dry when reach- 
ed, are essential conditions to the construction of a good ice-house 



Q2 AQRICULTUEAL FEATUEES. 

— the dry sand bottom serving immediately to absorb, and convey 
away, by downward filtration, all the water ibrmed by the melting 
of the ice. This is the operation of the principle of drainage of 
the higher beds, by the agency of a dry (or drained) upper layer 
of the sand-bed below. It is also essential to the utility of every 
well, that it should be sunk through the upper and dry layer (if 
there be such) of the sand-bed, and into the water-glutted lower 
part, for the purpose of its furnishing a permanent supply of water. 
And if, as generally in the flat low country, the sand-bed is full of 
water to its top, (unless after long drouths,) and is so surcharged 
that the water is pressed upward, then, in wells there dug, not only 
would water be obtained as soon as the sand-bed was reached, but 
the water would rise still higher, and even near to the surface of 
the land in very wet seasons. Thus, every well in this low coun- 
try may afford evidence of the existence, height, and character of 
the sand-bed at its top, and also the height to which water wnll 
rise therefrom, and how near the surface of the land the upper bed 
must be injuriously affected by the water-glut below, and whether 
permanently, or but for the times of wettest seasons. Hence, 
it follows, that little as has heretofore been noticed, or thought 
of, in regard to these important facts, and the more impor- 
tant deductions from them, and few as are the residents who 
have thought at all on these particular points, it is only ne- 
cessary for fanners and thinking men to reflect upon, and apply 
the facts they already know, to be assured of the true principle and 
method of drainage for their land, which will now be more fully 
explained and argued. 

VI. — The underlying sand-hed andits opposite operations in regard to 

draining. 

Whether the underlying sand is of one continuous bed connected 
throughout, or broken, or separated, is not important, it is enough 
that it is general, and nowhere known to be wanting. Neither is 
its general thickness known, nor is its bottom but rarely accessi- 
ble or known. But it is certain that this sand-bed lies upon some 
lower bed, impenetrable to water from above, and which bed, in 



SKETCHES or LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &.€. 



()3 



many known cases, is marl. But whatever may be the lower bed 
or its texture, the sand-bed itself, however open and loose in tex- 
ture, if already glutted with water, is incapable of receiving more. 
Therefore, there is no layer of earth so imptmetrable by water, as 
any earth, and even sand, already full of water ; and, in less de- 
gree, all dampness or moisture of the underlying bed of earth is so 
much impediment to the reception of rain-water from above. The 
following rough figure will serve to exhibit a i)rotile or section of 
the supposed strata of the low-lands, but to render the differences 
of level apparent to the eye, it is necessary greatly to increase the 
thickness of the strata, and the rate of their dip, in the tigure, ex- 
ceedino: the natural and actual conditions. 



SOUTH-EAST. 



NORTH-WEST. 
a 




SAND BED. 



.„«..i-«.««-— "°- 



2 

3 



Suppose this figure to represent the surface soil, (« h^ and also 
the inferior beds, all dipping very gradually, (and very much less 
than in the figure,) from northwest to southwest, or in the direc- 
tion from the falls of the rivers toward the ocean. The finely dot- 
ted line, c d, indicates the horizontal level. The upper bed, (1) 
next below the surface soil, let us first suppose here to be clayey, 
or of close texture, and not readily permeable by water. The next 
below is the sand-bed, which is wholly glutted with water, or part- 
ly dry (at top,) according to its level, or dip, or the variable supply 
of water, and its manner of discbarge. The next bed, (3,) is of 



64 AGRICULTUEAL FEATURES. 

marl, or other impermeable earth, or otherwise, from its constant 
wetness, incapable of receiving more water from above. 

Now, of all the excess of rain-water that falls on the whole surface 
of the title-water region, (as every where else,) part flows off over the 
surface of the land, and of that which remains, part is sooner or later 
evaporated, and part sinks as low as it can be admitted into, or ab- 
sorbed by the lower earth. Tlie greater discharge of rain-water by 
its flowing off" will be on hilly surfaces, and soils of close and com- 
pact texture. The greater discharge by downward percolation, or 
filtration, will be on the most sandy or porous earth, (if dry before 
and to enough depth,) and the more so if on level surfaces. What- 
ever water is not taken off" by these two modes, can be removed only 
by evaporation, and until so removed, the remaining excess of water 
must saturate the soil, if not cover it in part, in stagnant pools, and, 
for the time, destroy its productive power, and prevent all proper 
tillage labors. Every transient occurrence of such wet conditions, 
even if each one be transient, is enough to render even rich arable 
land of very little value. 

Of the rain-water that falls on the higher lands (at and beyond a.) 
and that sinks into the earth below, and which is too much to be 
held absorbed by the next beds, (1,) the excess must sink still lower, 
and go to supply or to surcharge the sand-bed (2,) below. And all 
the water in that bed, whether filling it wholly, or only its lower 
portion, would be slowly but continually pressing laterally in the 
direction of the dip, (towards e,) to seek (and find, ultimately,) a 
long delayed discharge in the lower channels of river*. Although 
the beds of earth may be nearly horizontal, the slightest degree of 
their general dipping must induce the operation stated. Thus, the 
supply of water to glut the sand-bed is not only increased by rain- 
water fallen immediately above, and over porous upper beds, (at 1,) 
but also another and continuous supply is pressing on laterally, de- 
rived from higher levels of the sand-bed (2,) and from rains that fell 
many miles distant, on the higher country. And therefore, while 
the upper layer of the sand-bed in the higher country, (or tempor- 
arily in the lower country,) may be left dry, (as represented above 
the level of the dotted line at c) at the lower level of the same sand- 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 65 

bed, and at the same time, it will be necessarily surcharged with 
water, which, not finding sutHcicut discharge in its gradual and 
sfow descent along the dip of the bed, presses with all the weight 
of its higher-lying water in every direction, and not only down- 
ward and laterally, but also upward. This is evident even to the 
eye. For if the water received partly on a higher and distant 
surface, (near to and also far north westward of//,) serves to keep 
the water in the sand-bed no higher (at any one time) than the 
horizontal line at c, it will still till the whole depth of the sand- 
bed as descending farther eastward. As the sand-bed dips, the 
water confined therein (by the higher bed being but slightly per- 
meable,) would be pressed by the weight of the higherand remote 
water, (rising to c,) and. bj- a well known law of hydrostatics, 
would rise as high as the line c, if having an upward vent. And 
precisely such a vent is aflbrded by a well, sunk at w, in which the 
water reached in the sand-bed (2) will rise to the level of d c, or 
as high as may there be the then height of the supply of water 
near c. Thus, in nearly every well in this low- land region, the 
water usually rises above the sand-bed which yielded the water ; 
and after great falls of rain, or long-continued wetness of the 
earth, the water supplied b}- percolation only, and mainly from 
a distance, rises much higher than usual, and in some cases, to 
within one or two feet of the surface of the land. 

So far, for more clear explanation, it has been supposed that 
the higher bed, (1,) was more or less impervious, and so served to 
confine in the lower sand-bed its water, and greatly to resist and 
impede its escape by upward discharge. But if, as is more gen- 
eral, the higher bed (1) is of texture permeable to water, that dif- 
ference does not materially vary the circumstances as to the need 
and manner of draining. A pervious upper bed will absorb more 
freely and speedily all the water that hydrostatic pressure would 
force upward, so as to leave much less visible results of such pres- 
sure in particular places, as in wells and deep ditches. But in 
either case there would be the same general evil to the upper 
earth and surface soil, of moisture derived from below ; and the 
same remedy required, of discharging the injurious supply of wa- 
ter, by tapping its reservoir below. 
9 



G6 AGRICULTURAL FEATURES. 

To whatever height the water (proceeding from the saiid-hcd) 
can rise in the unobstructed passage afforded hy a well, (or an 
auger hole, bored for trial,) to the same height must there exist 
the force to raise the water, though more slowly, by filtration, but 
by the same hydrostatic pressure in all the neighboring ground. 
The bed of earth lying over the glutted sand may be so close (in 
its moist condition) as to be impervious to the descent of rain- 
water, from the surfoce, which w^ould act only by the pressure of 
gravity. But scarcely any earth is close enough to prevent the 
absorption of water, pressed iipwainl by the much strouger force 
acting on the water confined below. Therefore, even when the 
sand-bed may be as low as six or eight feet beloAV the surface, 
and a bed of unusually low texture between, the confined water 
may be so strongly pressed upward as to reach within two feet of 
the surface. In such cases, injurious moisture will rise still high- 
er, by capillary attraction, and more evidently over sandy than a 
close sub-soil or uBder-bed. It is owing to this condition of things 
that many spaces, without showing any standing or flowing or 
even the slightest oozing water, either at the surface or in shal- 
low ditches, are always damp and cold, produce only aquatic 
grasses or weeds, and exhibit every indication of wetness, except 
the actual and usual presence of water. But after every rain, and 
even light rains, water wnll stand in puddles on sueL places, if 
level, even though the soil and si5jl>soil are sandy and ©pen. For 
moist sand is soon filled by water to repletion, and wet sand will 
hold water on its surface like a dish. 

Thus, I infer that the whole of this low laniT is underlaid by a 
sand-bed, glutted with water to its top, and which santT-bed is ge- 
nerally so near the surface soil as to affect it injuriously l>y water 
from below. But even if this confined water lay too low to aftect 
the surface earth directly, it would do it indirectly, by preventing 
the rain-water from sinking, and its excess being discharged by 
downward percolation. If the sand-bed below were dry, or al- 
ways free from water for its upper twelve inches only, (as near 
c,) that upper layer of dry sand would serve as natural under- 
draining for all the upper earth. Such is the condition of things 
under the excellent and dry low grounds of Brandon, op. James 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &.€. 07 

river ; and such is inferred to be the case with all the similar low 
lands, which, though level and of stiff soil, require but little drain- 
ing hibors, and can dispense with all under-draining. The upper 
layer of the universal sand-bed, being there dry, is always ready 
to receive and to discharge below all water sinking from above. 
Thus these fine lands are under-drained by nature. And the only 
reason why that general under drainage is not perfect in opera- 
tion, and ample for all wants of the land, is that this dry sand is 
many feet (10 to 14) below the surface of the laud, and the inter- 
vening beds are of clayey and compact texture. Even these im- 
pediments would not prevent the surface being generally and per- 
fectly dry, if without any artificial drainage. But the natural 
draining process is too slow, and therefore the aid of some surface 
ditches are there needed to pass off more quickly the temporary 
rain-iloods. 

But when, instead of the upper sand being dry, and so serving 
to drain the upper beds, the whole sand-bed is full of water, and 
that water is pressed upward, then all the upper beds are kept 
more or less wet or moist, and are thereby rendered unable to re- 
ceive any more rain Avater'from above by filtration or percolation. 
The stillest and closest clay, when dry, is full of minute fissures ; 
if no moistcr than usual at some feet below a dry surface, such 
clay will absorb water from above, and slowly pass any excess, by 
percolation, to an absorbent or receiving bed below. But earth 
made wet or moist by water forced upw^ard from below, whether 
it be close clay or loose and coarse sand, can receive no more 
from above, and all excess of rain water left there in pools must 
remain until evaporated. 

We may best estimate the enormity of this evil, of the wet 
earth below preventing the rain-water from sinking, by the con- 
dition of the level woodland still remaining in a state of nature 
and without any aid from ditches. On such land, in wet sea- 
sons and usually in every w^inter and spring, the excess of rain- 
water remains and covers most of the surface, and in many 
cases for weeks or mouths together. This is universally ascrib- 
ed by the proprietors and neighbors to the soil or its under-earth 
b3ing too stiff and close to permit the descent of water ; and 



68 AGKICULTURAL FEATURES. 

this is held even where the upper Led is open and light enough 
for any purpose. In"ow let us proceed to examine the actual 
remedy, or the drainnge plan in general use, and its eftects, and 
next the difterent principle of drainage and method which I pro- 
pose. 

VII. — The vsi/al and general jdoii oj draining and its radical de- 
fects. 

The actual plan or system of draining which is in general and 
approved use in this region is very uniform in the general prin- 
ciple and features, and also very simple. It consists in digging 
numerous ditches, mostly shallow and smal), merely for the pur- 
pose of collecting therein and conveying from the field so much 
of the excess of rain-water a? will flow over the surface. These 
ditches are at various distances, according to the greater or less 
excess of wetness of the land, and they are of various degrees 
of imperfect eftect, according to their number and depth. But 
on no farril is this mode of ditcLing effectual for drainage, and 
on a few onjly has it ever approached that desired end, where 
the ditches were much deeper than usual and great labor has 
been bestowed, though on an erroneous system. 

The numerous swamps, so-called, or spaces, either broad or 
narrow, a little more depressed or level than the adjacent ground 
serve to afford ground for outlets in deep and large ditches act- 
ing as main water-carriers through these swamps to some one of 
the numerous rivers or deep creeks with which the whole coun- 
try is intersected. Some of these deep and main discharging 
ditches may severally receive the waters from two or three dif- 
ferent farms and properties, and extend for miles before reaching 
the final outlet. Still, by combined effort for the common bene- 
fit, these longest ditches may be made cheaply enough for their 
object, and may be made deep enough to suit for any system 
of drainage. 

Supposing that a proper outlet has been secured through which 
to discharge the water into the river, then each farmer next pro- 
ceeds to dig the receiving smaller ditches to collect the excels of 
rain-water from the field. In most cases the farms arc so level that 



SKETCHES OP LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 69 

the ditches may be laid off in almost any direction, and usually they 
are made to coincide witli the cardinal points of the compass, or 
otherwise made parallel with, or perpendicular to some road or 
other straight and long outline of the field. As the most labori- 
ous, and also the most perfect draining on this plan, and on the stif- 
fest soil, is seen in Perquimans county, the operations there will be 
held especially in view in the following description : 

In beginning a large drainage operation, or in renewing and sub- 
stituting a former irregular and imperfect laying off, the main ditch 
of the field or farm is first dug to discharge into some common 
main water-carrier, or other deep outlet. But so uniform is the 
general level and shape of surface, that the required main ditcli 
can usually be made straight, and to agree, in the preferred man- 
ner, with the other smaller ditches, and with the direction of the 
ploughing. Into the "main" and deepest ditch, (usually 3 to 4 
feet deep,) and at right angles to it, and 1,000 feet apart, the paral- 
lel "leading" ditches enter, which are 2 to 3 feet deep. Then 
crossing the last, and parallel to the main ditch, and 150 feet apart, 
(on some farms, only 125 feet) are dug narrow "tap ditches," 18 or 
20 inches deep, and which empty, at both ends, into the "leading 
ditches." The land is tilled in 5 feet beds, laid off parallel with the 
smallest or tap ditches. Still, all these ditches, with the narrow 
beds and their alleys, (or water-furrows,) are deemed insufiicient to 
carry off the excess of rain-water, without the further aid of " hoe- 
furrows," which are opened first by a plough, and afterwards clean- 
ed out by hand-hoes for every ploughing of the field, because every 
ploughing (or horse-tillage) fills them. These " hoe-furrows" are 
made across the narrow beds, at irregular distances of from 18 to 25 
yards, and empty into the tap ditches. A " hoe-furrow" is made 
to pass through every slightest cross depression, and wherever else 
deemed most necessary. Thus the alleys of the five feet beds first 
receive the surplus and overflowing rain-water ; and so much there- 
of as can flow off over a level, or nearly level surface, passes out of 
the open ends of the alleys (from both ends) into the leading ditch- 
es, or across the beds along the hoe-furrows into the tap-ditches, and 
thence to the leading ditches. From the latter the water passes 
into the broader and deeper main ditch, and from it to the common 
outlet of the farm. The hoc-furrows (or grips) arc a little deeper 



70 AGRICULTUKAL FEATURES. 

than the alleys of the 5 feet beds. T'lie alleys may be G or 7 in- 
ches behiw the ciMwiis of the beds. This plan is, on some farms 
varied by the leading ditches, running jiarallel to the main ditches; 
bat the number of ditches arid furrov/s;, and the si)aces between, 
are not varied. 

The ol)ject of this plan, and the only possible operation of it, is to 
draw otf the excess of rain-water mainly over the surface ; and even 
with all these numerous ditches and furrows, on perfectly level land 
no water can flow off until it has saturated the soil, or stands above 
it in numerals little shallow- pools: and if the field is under tillage, 
and has been deeply [ihmglied, all the ploughed layer will suck \\\> 
as much rain-water as it can retain, l)ef()re any surplus will begin to 
flow ofi" over the surface, or, by lateral and hoi-izontal percolation, 
to ooze out from the soft soil iulo the lower furrows and ditches. — 
Such draining at best only begins to remove the injurious excess of 
water from the soil, after it has efl:ected all the damage it can do 
for the time. It is true that every hour of the continuance of the 
water would greatly increase the first damage of the saturated soil, 
and that continuance the numerous drains serve to cut short and re- 
duce, in time and evil cfiect, 

(Some of I he main ditches in Perquimans are of much greater 
depth, and of unnccessar\' width at the bottom, (which should al- 
ways be narrow, no matter how wide at top and how deep a ditch 
may be.) Mr. J. T. Granberry's main ditch is 1 to 8 feet dee]) ; 
and though without its being so designed, this ditch reached the 
sand-bed and tapped its glut of water. This great depth had been 
sought only for the different purpose of having a sufficient vent for 
the great cpiautity of surface water to be discharged from the 
field. 

This system cuts up every field, by spade-dug ditches, into separ- 
ate spaces of little more than three and a half acres each. Then 
bridges arc required at suitable crossing places over every main and 
leading ditch, and also over every ta[)-ditch when they are crossed 
b}' a farm road or a tenq)orary track for hau ling in a crop. xVs many 
other rough wooden structures are required to give passage to wa- 
ter and to exclude hogs M'herever a fence crosses the tap or other 
ditches. The labor necessary to dig and keep open all these ditches 



SKETCIIIvS OF LOWKK XOinil t'AROLIXA, &('. 71 

witli iill the other aco'.npanlm.nits ;iii<l tlie increasiMl hih"i' <'f lil- 
liii:;e, &c., among these open ditclie--, must he eii<»nu<ins. It woiiM 
not be ninch moi-e co.stly, ami woiihl ictiini much nioi-u m_'tt }>rutit, 
to adopt, instead, the modern Enghsh system of deej) and covci-ecl 
under-draining — whieii system,after all,ishutt]ie drainage i>l"s\irface 
water, derived from i-ains, by downward lilti-ation, and as soon as 
may be etfeeted after the rain has fallen on the surface in ex- 
cess. 

This plan of di-aining by nnmerons ditches sepai'ating and sur- 
rounding small rectangular spaces, was first used on the low (em- 
banked marsh) rice-lands of South Cai olina, where it was not incon- 
venient for tillage, inasniuch as no plr)nghingor other team labor 
was practicable on the soft and nn'ry soil. Thence the same system 
was transferred to much of the hiirh and firm land under cotton 
culture, but which needed some attention to drainnge. Such ditch- 
ing waspmcticed as late as 1843, on much land in CharlisstO'n district 
which scarcely needed a ditch (dug by tlie spade) any where. But 
there, while these frequent ditches were deemed indispensable by 
many planters, they were also deemed so great an impediment to 
the plough that that in^ploment was excluded therefrom, and these 
fields were cultivate I by hand-labor entirely. In Ponjuimans fall 
use is made of the plough despite of the many obstructing ditches. 
And it has not been very long since cross-ploughing also was in use 
anwng these many ditches — the corn rows being laid ofi' and 
ploughed across as well as lengthwise of the long and' narrow rec- 
tangles. Of course the culture then must have been flssitor without 
beds and intervening alleys, preserved throughout the year's til- 
lage^ as since and now. 

VIII. — Evidences or Ulmtrai Ions of the existing injimcs from swjxr- 
Jluons water, and of the iwoj)cr means for reli(f. 

The plan or principle on which I would propose to drain thelands 
of this low country is very difYerent from what has heretofore been 
unusually aimed at, and, but partially effected. Instead of remov- 
ing the excess of water by passing it off over the surface through 
numerous shallow and open tap-ditches, I would, by a few deep 
and mostly covered drains, tap the glutted sand-bed below, and thu3 



72 AGRICULTURAL FEATURES. 

as mucli as practicable, lessen or entirely abate the previous upward 
pressure and direction of the confined water, and thereby relieving 
the upper bed of earth of its present supply of moisture from below, 
make it dry and permeable, and so permit, for the future, the excess 
of rain-water to sink into the drained upper bed, and be thus drawn 
ofi'by percolation to the still lower sand-bed, (then empty enough 
at top to receive such temporary additions,) and thence the water 
to pass along the dip of the sand-bed, and far beneath the surface 
of the land, to the nearest deep stream or other place of dis- 
charge. 

It is admitted that, except as to my own limited operations and 
experience, on a single farm, (Marlbourne), there is almost no such 
practical proof of the effects here anticipated in regard to this great 
low-land region, of which so little is well known to me. But recent, 
few and limited as have been my means for examination and investi- 
gation in this region, there can be no doubt of the general existence 
of the one important natural feature on which my plan and reasoning 
rests, viz : the under-lying and glutted sand-bed, having a general, 
very slight, continuous dip. If this is the general and natural con- 
dition of the land, and if it is a sufficient cause for its present wet- 
ness, then it follows that the true principle of drainage, which sound 
theory would direct, is to draw the water from the hottom^ and not 
from the top, as is the only function of shallow ditches. It may be, 
in some few localities, that the ghitted sand-bed lies too low to be 
reached by ditches without too great labor and expense. But even 
such objections to the practical operations will not invalidate the 
correctness of the theor3\ And such good objections to practice 
probably exist in but few cases of limited localities. 

It is manifest, to the least consideration, that the usual and uni- 
versally approved plan and procedure cannot drain this land. As 
to the moisture infiltrating from the glut below, or driven upward 
by hydrostatic pressure, or drawn still higher and diffused as mere 
dampness by capil'ary attraction, it is obvious that this moisture 
cannot be lessened by any number of ditches in the upper earth. 
As to the excess of rain water, when remaining separate on the sur- 
face, some of it will flow off in shallow ditches. But none will so pass 
off trom a level surface until the excess of water stands in small 
pools. Nor can any of the surplus water escape by filtrating later- 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &.C. 7S 

ally throui^h the soil until tlio soil or upper earth has drunk up 
more rain-water than it can retain. These conditions ofextretnelj 
wet earth, (and the more if of recently and deeply ploughed land,) 
must exist before the present system of drainage can even begin to 
act, and must still remain in force after the ditches have ceased to 
draw from the land that portion of the water which cannot be held 
absorbed. All the still remaining water, (and enough for the time 
to convert tilled soil to mire,) will be removed only by evaporation, 
as none can sink into the earth below in its present and usual wet 
state caused by the glut of water in the sand-bed, and the moisture 
always rising therefrom. 

The best farmers seeing the imperfect operation of this plan of 
draining, have sought the desired improvement in digging all their 
ditches deeper than usual. But, uidess such deepening reached 
and tapped the sand-bed, the deeper ditches could not gather any 
water from below, and could convey no more from the surface of 
the land than would be done by shallower^ ditches in somewhat 
longer time. 

IX. — The upper beds always permeahle if drained. 

But even if it be conceded to my argument that the sand-bed could 
be tapped, and the previous upper layer of its water be drawn off 
and kept permanently lowered, it would still be denied by most of 
the farmers that the rain-water can then sink through the earth. — 
This denial would be founded on the supposed impervious texture 
of the intervening bed of earth. This belief of the under earth be- 
ing impermeable to water is not only general in Perquimans, (and 
with much color of truth there,) where the upper earth is extremely 
close and stiff, and in some places eight feet or more in thickness, 
but also in Princess Ann and Norfolk counties, where the soil and 
imder earth are abundantly porous, and not generally more than 
four feet thick. 

Further, the immense quantity of rain-water which remains long, 
and covers much of the surfiice on the forest land in its natural con- 
dition, and which water passes ofi' where ditches have been dug, 
makes it seem incredible that even half of all this water could sink 



10 



74 AGRICULTURAL FEATURES. 

through the earth below. It is also a prevailing belief that there is 
more rain in this region than general. I presume that no more 
rain falls from the clouds, but as very little of the excess of rain-water 
sinks into the earth, (because of its wetness below,) there is far more 
of the surplus rain-water to be removed and discharged by ditches 
than in other localities. In some of the nearly as level but higher 
lands of parts of Southampton and Surry, in A^irginia, scarcely a 
ditch is required, and there is no evil of rain water remaining on 
the surface. There, in furnishing a pervious soil and sub-soil and 
dry underbeds, nature has effectually under-drained such lands, 
and in so doing has enabled most of the surplus rain water to disap- 
pear by downward filtration. The great quantity of rain water in 
low-lands which passes off in the ditches is owing to the small ab- 
sorbing power of the always wet lower earth, and, in less degree, of 
the upper also. 

X. — Examples of the effects of the true principle of drainage, in loth 
artificial and natural operations. 

Thougli there has been very little practice in this region on the 
plan of tapping and drawing off the confined water of the inferior 
sand-bed, and almost none by design, there still have been some 
such operations, and with marked beneficial results. Mr. J. T. 
Granberry, in Perquimans, and Mr. E. II. Herbert, in Princess 
Arm, tapped the water of the sand-bed when they anticipated noth- 
ing of the important effect, and merely designed to make unusual- 
ly large and deep ditches, Mr. W. Sayre, then of Norfolk count}^, 
acting on my general views and advice, given to him before I had 
seen his land, or even any part of the region in question, sought for 
and found the wet sand bed at four or five feet deep, and to which 
no ditch on his farm or near to it, had before penetrated. He deep- 
ened the greater length of his general outside ditch to the sand, and 
found great increased draining benefit therefrom in the single year 
which he afterwards continued to own and reside on the farm. One 
of the effects could scarcely be mistaken. In the summer after the 
first opening of this deep encircling ditch to the sand-bed, the well, 
half a mile distant from the ditch, ceased to supply water, and con- 
tinued thus nearly dry until in the following winter. This well, (or 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. IS 

another very close by,) had always before, and as far back as known, 
yielded water abundantly, and through the dry est seasons. The 
subsequent and long failure must liave been caused by the cutting 
off, by the deep outside ditch, the supply to the well of water from 
tlie sand-bed. It is difficult to appreciate such slow and gradual 
effects, or to know always to wliat particular causes to ascribe them. 
Such effects from this mode of drainage may be slowly increasing 
for years before reaching their maximum of beneficial opera- 
tion. 

But on this principle there are many other and great drainage 
operations which luiture has executed, and which show the benefi- 
cial results that are liere promised. Every river or smaller deep 
water channel in this low-land is, in efi'ect, a deep drain cut into the 
glutted sand-bed, and which cut or tapping lias been operating to 
draw off tlie neigliboring confined water, and to prevent its upward 
pressure so far as circumstances permitted. Along the sides of every 
river and deep branch, the bordering lands, for half a mile or more 
in breadth, are much drier than any other adjacent lands of equal 
elevation and like surfiice. This is the case in Durant's Keck, where 
the land is very level and also lower than is usual for the firmest 
soil. This is the long peninsula of good land lying between Perqui- 
mans and Little river, and extending to Albemarle Sound. 

The depressed shore of a river does not serve the better to drain 
bordering land because the river is a mile or more in width. A cov- 
ered drain, having but a four-inch pipe or passage for water, if 
serving to reduce and convey away all the excess of under water, 
and to prevent its previous upward pressure, and so leave the upper 
layer of the sand-bed dry, would, for draining effect, serve all the 
purposes of the widest river of no greater draining depth. If the natu- 
ral depression fortherivers's passage serves to drain by lateral perco- 
lation half a mile width of the bordering land, a deep artificial drain 
sunk a foot or two into the sand-bed, and whether open or covered 
may be expected to do as much. And if so, deep parallel drains a 
mile apart perhaps might drain the intermediate land. And such 
drains, even if 10 feet deep and covered, would still be made and kept 
at less cost than the never-ceasing trouble of the numerous sliallow 
and open ditches in Perquimans. But in most other places, as Prin- 



76 Af=;iaeiLTUKAL features. 

cess Anne and Norfolk counties, the glutted sand-bed is not nsnally 
more than four feet below the surface, and drains sunk into the sand 
and if four or even eight of them to the mile of width or cross- 
distance, would not be Ycry costly, and could scarcely fail of their 
object. 

XI. — Drainage vertically h/j borchnlcs. 

Wliere the water is closely confined in the sand-bed by tlie com- 
pact texture of the wet overlying earth, and the upward pressui'cof 
tlie confined water is considerable, (because of the quantity, or 
height, or weight of the water at the higher sources,) a portion f of 
the water may be drawn higher than the top of the sand-bed by the 
use of the auger. As in most of the wells the water rises to more 
or less height above the top of the sand, so it would rise as high in 
holes bored by an inch auger. And if tlie main or discharging 
ditches were sunk but a few inches lower, then the water could be 
thus drawn up in holes bored in such ditch, the water rising througb 
the boring would continue to flow off alono' the bottom of the ditch. 
In such cases, the holes, if found operative, should be bored every 
thirty to fifty 3'ards in anew ditch, as some will not act at all. Each 
such bore, when acting to bring up a continued stream is an artificial 
" boiling f^pring." And if tliere is sufficient quantity and force of 
the water thus rising, there is no more icason why the artificial boil 
ing spring shall be obstructed and its flow stopped, than a natural 
one. 

XII. — Tlie inrscuce of quich-sand loth as an imjicdimait or an aid 
to effcctval drainivg. 

It was by such borings (commenced for a very different object') 
that I first discovered tlie general existence and the properties of 
the water- glutted sand-bed on my own farm, and by them drew up 
and passed oft' water in considerable quantity before my main ditch 
had been sunk within two feet of the sand-bed. But if it is practica- 
ble and 6afe to go deeper with the spade, this vertical draining, in 
open ditches, should be but a teniporary'expedient, as it was in my 
own case. If the water will rise, say two feet in such bore-holes, to 
the then bottom of an open ditch, it will operate partially to reduce 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, iC. 77 

the glut of water below, and prevent so mucli of its upward pres- 
sure. But the reduction will not be of any water that cannot force 
its passage so high. The greatest value of the tact of thus draining 
up water by boring, is the sure indication it affords of the still great- 
er success of a future deeper digging of the ditch. If water thus 
rises to the height of two feet, it will rise with much more force 
and longer continuance if the ditch is sunk deeper and the water has 
so much less height to rise. If by still later and deeper digging the 
ditch is sunk into the sand, then there will no longer be vertical or 
boiling springs, but, instead, water oozing or flowing in laterally 
from the upper sand and along the whole line of such digging. 
Of course, and the more if the sand is very fine, such continuous 
opening is 1 etter than any number of auger-holes, even if the 
bores should always continue open and discharging. 

The inability to execute, at once, so extensive and costly an 
operation, compelled me to deepen my main ditch at different times 
and in several successive years. But there is another reason for 
such gradual deepening, which will probably be found to operate 
in all diggings into the sand-bed in this low country. It is most 
likely that this water-glutted bed is everywhere a "quicksand" 
almost semi-fluid, and which, as soon as dug into, will flow in from 
the sides and fill with sand the deeper excavation. And if the dio-. 
ging is persisted in it will cause caving or falling in of the solid 
and dry upper margins of the ditch, so that any eflfectual or permanent 
deepening at that time will be impracticable. If quick-sand is the 
greatest impediment to continued and successful deepening of the 
digging, its presence is also the surestproof of the necessity for the 
work and the best surety for its final and complete success. Quick- 
sand, -is nothing but a very pure and loose sand of which all tlie in- 
terstices are glutted with water. There is no coherence of the dif- 
ferent particles of such sand, and the water contained therein is 
nearly as much in bulk as the solid matter of the sand itself, and 
when drained and passing ofl" the water is continually renewed by 
lateral supply from more or less remote and higher sources. Hence 
quick-sand is semi-fluid, and flows in almost as freely as water, fills 
every lower cavity of an open ditch, and is like to enter every cre- 
vice of the filling material of a covered drain, and finally to choke 
the narrow conduit. Nothing can be worse than quick-sand to op- 



78- AGKICULTURAL FEATURES. 

pose the immediate and complete excavation of a ditcli, wliether to 
be covered or left open. But delay and time afford the remedy. — 
When quick-sand is reached, the digging should at first go no deep- 
er than its surface, or no deeper into the sand than may be without 
causing damage. Then the before confined water, which rendered 
the sand "quick" or semi-fluid, will find a discharge into the ditch. 
The previous upper pressure will be removed. Later the water will 
subside, leaving. free the upper sand, thus drained into the ditch, and 
as low as the level of the dischai-ge. In a year after the first oper-' 
ation, the then bottom of the ditch wull no longer be of quick-sand, 
as at first, but will have become firm, and may then be deepened 
some six or eight inches more, before reaching what is still quick- 
sand below. Thus so much deeper and fuller discharge is given to 
the water, and so much more of the quantity removed, that thereby 
another layer of tlie then highest quick-sand is gradually converted 
to dryer and firm sand, and which may also be subsequently taken 
out safely by the spade. In this manner, and easily, and with best 
effects, I have, in three successive years, gained two feet of depth 
below the original surface of a bad quick sand, in which at first I 
could not keep open the shallowest permanent passage. If all the 
glutted sand bed of the low country (as inferred) is also of quick- 
sand, in like manner it may at first be barely tapped by ditching, 
and afterwards, and gradually, be dug into deeper, until all the 
the injurious excess of under- water has been reduced and re- 
moved. 

XIII. — Tests by which to judge, in advance, of the expediency 
or success of desired draining operations, and illustrations of ef- 
fects. 

Such is my view of the cause of the general wetness of this low 
land region, and such the proposed remedy. If the principle is 
sound, and the deductions true, it is enough for my argument, and 
also for very extensive applications of the theory in practice. But 
it is not for me, slightly informed of particular facts and localities 
as I am by personal observation, to ofler particular directions for 
practical operations, or to state the natural and various conditions 
of different localities, which may either invite or discourage 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 79 

and forbid efforts to drain by means of reaclnng the deep-seated 
sources of the injurious waters. In many or most h)calities of this 
great low-hmd I'egion the proposed means may be used botli cheaply 
and profitably. In others, owing to the greater depth of digging ne- 
cessary, the 0[)eration, though equahy sure of success, miglit be of 
more cost than profit. Every judicious farmer acquainted with the 
local details can best determine as to tlie api)licability of my gene- 
ral plan to his own farm and vicinity. But there are certain indi- 
cations and jjreliminar}' tests of the need for and probable success 
of such undertakings, which each farmer shoukl consult in advance. 
These will now be mentioned. 

The shallow wells on every farm will have shown whether a sand 
bed has been reached, wliether its being tapped brought up water, 
and at what height above the sand, if any, the water stands per- 
manently, and how much higher after winter or the wettest season. 
These facts would serve to show how high the water may be drawn up 
by borings, and how much below that height it may be sunk 1)3' deep 
ditching. Thus, any depth of ditching below the highest temporary 
rising of the watei', in wells or bcre-hole^, would do so7ne good in 
draining off or reducing the glut below, and its upward pressure, 
though such benefit might be but f>r the wettest seasons. But the 
deeper the digging the greater would be the reduction of the hurt- 
ful excess of water. iVnd the remedy would not be com[>lete, un- 
til the main ditches were sunk into the sand bed, so as to take off 
from I he adjacent ground, all the former upward pressure of the 
under water and also render the upper layer of the sand-bed dry, 
and therefore capable of freely imbibing the new supplies of rain- 
water infiitrated from above. 

Next, as to the assumed permeability to water of the upper bed 
ot earth. It has been admitted that the upper beds, even if of the 
most sandy and loose texture, if full of water below, are injpermea- 
ble to more water standing on the surface. But if such wet earth be 
deprived of all superfluous moisture, (as by any proper draining,) 
then, what was impervious before niay become as pervious as desi- 
rable. Every one has observed such change in clay, when dug into, 
and the sides and bottoai of the excavation left exposed to a drying 
atmosphere. Of course, such extent of drying, and the consequent 
great opening of fissures, is not to be looked for under the covering 



So AGRICULTURAL FEATURES. 

eartli. But in long droughts, earth not aft'ected by uiidor-water, 
will become as dry as dust for four feet or more below the surface. 
This isoften seen in the digging of graves in summer; while in that 
dry condition there must be formed innumerable small pores and 
fissures, caused by contraction, in the most compact earth, through 
which water would freely sink, and in great quantity, and as low 
as the earth had thus dried, and fissures been formed. And these 
fissures could not be again entirely closed ,by wetness and expan- 
sion of the earth, so as to exclude all precolation of water. It is not 
for me to assert that there will be enough of these fissures, and 
reaching to sufficient depth, to serve to carry down by percolation 
all the excess of rain-water, even when gradually falling on the 
earth. But there can be no question that water will be so absorbed 
and conveyed away in great quantit}^, in a soil with under- beds 
thus drained, when the same earth, before being drained, would 
have been incapable of absorbing any water below the quickly sa- 
turated surface soil. 

For the good effect and success of tlic plan of draining the 
eartli from below, it is not necessary that all or even a large 
proportion of the water in the sand-bed shall be so drained off. 
It may be that the bed is twenty leet thick. However thick the 
bed, its being full of water and surcharged, (proved by the water 
pressing upward,) shows that the supply of water from the high- 
er parts of tne country is greater than the sand bed has openings 
for its lateral discharge. Thus, suppose the whole natural dis- 
charge of the sand-bed, into rivers and other outlets, and by eva- 
poration, to be in volume, as 19, and the supply of water from 
rains, and from the more elevated distant part of the bed, to be as 
20, then it is seen that the excess of supply of 1 part can only be re- 
moved by being forced upward through the earth. This is the 
water that operates injuriously, directly, by causing wetness to the 
under earth, and indirectly, by preventing the excess of rain-wa- 
ter from being discharged by sinking. Ttien, if by tapping the 
sand-bed, this twentieth part of the water only is removed, the 
whole upward pressure, with the surcharge is prevented. 

But further, if by deeper draining the still full (but not overgorg- 
ed) sand-bed has its water drawn off and lowered only one foot of 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, kt. 81 

its 20 or more of supposed depth, that upper foot of sand, thus 
made dry, will serve as underdraining (or absorbent) material for 
all the upper earth, and may receive and continually pass off all 
the surplus rain-water that may thereafter fall on the surface. Such 
is the fortunate natural condition of the best low ground farms on 
the lower James river, before adverted to — best, not so much for 
their great natural fertiliy, and good constitution, valuable as these 
are, as because they are thus under-drained by nature. Tlie upper 
layer of the sand-bed under these lands, is always dry for some feet 
down. This dry layer, though some 12 feet or more below earth of 
clayey texture, is the true cause of the usual dry condition of those 
soils. And although the wells reach water in abundance a*; a few 
feet lower in the sand, that water has no upward pressure, and can- 
not damao;e the hio-her beds of earth and soil. In these cases the 
natural means for the lateral discharge of water from the sand-bed, 
(in its high level,) are greater than needed for the quantity suppli- 
ed. Therefore, the higher layer of the sand-bed is kept free from 
water, and always ready to receive, and convey still lower, any 
new and temporary supply from the upper beds and soil. If, on 
the contrar}', the average supply of water had ever so little exceed- 
ed the means for average discharge ; this upper layer of sand would 
have been always over-gorged with water, and the surface would 
suifer with wetness, as do the low-lands on the Pamunkey river, and 
all this great low-land region here under consideration. 

Though wet earth is perfectly impervious to the entrance and 
passage by percolation of more water from the surface (pressing 
downward, and by its own weight only,) I doubt whether any earth 
in the tide-water region is impervious. If previously drained, at 
least, none such has occurred in my extensive draining labors and 
experience. Much soil is made more impervious by having been 
ploughed or tilled when wet. This operation approaches, in effect, 
to what is called '' puddling," or kneading wet clay, or loam, which 
is done for the purpose of closing all the pores, and making the 
earth impervious to water. Such, in the greatest perfection, is the 
working of clay for pottery, and in less degree, for making tiles 
qnd bricks. Hence it is that deep and proper ploughing, intro- 

11 



82 AGRICULTURAL FEATURES. 

duced on land before often ploiiglied wet, and always sli allow, lias 
"well known draining effect, because the "puddled" and impervious 
pan is broken up, and the rain-water then permitted to sink thi-ough 
the natural fissures of the lower earth. 



NOTE. 

It was after the whole of this article had been written that I saw (May, 1857,) in the 
eitj of Charleston, South Carolina, the best exemplification, and practical proof, of the 
■oundness of the views expressed above. Under the eity, and also, (as inferred from a 
superficial and hasty glance,) under all the higher ground of the whole neighboring coun- 
try, there lies the bed of sand as described above. The top of the sand is generally 
within three feet of the surface of the higher and firm ground on which the city is built. 
As deep in this sand as to the level of twenty inches above low tide mark, excavations 
were then in progress, in which were to be constructed large culverts, designed to carry 
•way, with the drained water, the filth of the city. These deep culverts were in and 
across the higher parts of the site of Charleston, and extending on a level from the tide- 
water of one river to the other. The greatest depth was fourteen feet — and more than 
ten feet in some places in the sand-bed, and rarely less than seven. The sand was wet 
to its top; and a little below, it was quick, and becoming more and more fluid, and yield- 
ing more and more water as opened, to the bottom of the excavation. Water was usual- 
ly reached at the depth of three feet below the surface of the street. In the street fire- 
wells, the water usually stood still higher. I saw one, just before it was drawn off, and 
laid dry by the new and deeper digging for the culvert, in which the water stood within 
18 inches of the surface of the ground. No digging for agricultural draining could 
have been aflforded of one-fourth this depth into the quick-sand — nor could any works for 
agricultural objects and profits, only, have been completed speedily, and at such great 
•xpense of labor and other appliances. Therefor<r, no mere agricultural drainage oper- 
ations could have offered such full and satisfactory evidences of the correctness of my 
theoretical views, as did then, and will still more hereafter, this great city work, of 
which drainage was but a secondary object, and a mean sought to be used, (in the col- 
lected spring-water, held back, for a time, by flood gates,) to wash and float off to the 
rivers, the soluble and other putrescent filth of the city. The ditch, opened to lay tbe 
culvert in, was 10 feet wide, with perpendicular sides. As soon as the excavation reach- 
ed the upper quick-sand, a narrow trench only was then dug along the middle, and kept 
deepest by the strong force of as many laborers as could have room to work. This cen- 
tral and narrow trench served to drain the sand which was then left on the sides — and 
by being thus made dry, it became almost immediately firm — and in a few hours this 
former qnick-sand could be easily removed by shovels. But before entirly removing 
this layer of sand to the outer limit of the designed excavation, the farther caving in 
{from without the limits) was prevented by driving down a close shield of thick boards, 
placed vertically, and with their lower edges sharpened. These boards were supported, 
and kept in their designed direction, by a strong frame work of timbers, stretched 
across the entire width of the ditch. These sharpened boards were driven downward as 
the excavation was lowered, and were always kept a little below the still fluid surface of 
tbe sand, and which would cave in, if not at first held up by this strong and continuous 
barrier. After thus securing the sides, and removing the sand through a course of eom« 



SKETCHES OP LOWER NORTH CAROLINl, *G. S5 

XIV. — So)ne of the farming irracticcs of the low-lands — Defects and 

proposed improvemcHts — Rotations of crops — Pea-falloWj and nar-^ 

roto and hroad^hcd tillage. 

In my hasty journeys through this country, thougli diligently en- 
gaged in taking genera! and superficial views, 1 had but little op- 
portunity to observe extensively, or to examine the details of farm- 
ing. Therefore, nothing like minute description will be attempted 
and only general remarks offered on some of the most striking ad- 
vantages and capabilities of the lands, and defects of their cul- 
ture. 

The earl}'- settlements were made on the dr3'est places, and on 
most of these, tillage has been continued almost incessantly, from 
the first settlement to recent, or to the present time. Under such 
treatment, and with the necessary, or at least certain and frequent 
wet ploughing of land, always too wet in winter and spring, it is 
surprising that fields so abused have not become poorer than they 
are. 1 saw none that were so unproductive as the poorest fields of 
the higher tide-water counties in Virginia, which have not been 
marled or limed, or as all such most exliausted lands were before 
marling and liming were begun ; and wherever the formerly most 
reduced lands have latterly been occupied by good farmers, thej 
have been greatly and rapidly improved. Sundry such cases are to 



2 feet thick, then another like narrow trench would be dug, and by its aid, another layer »f 
quick-sand would be first drained, and then thrown out. In this manner, the designed 
level for the bottom would be reached, and therefore the culvert (of arched and well 
cemented brick-work, laid on a floor of plank,) was constructed, and for each portion, 
completed very soon after the excavation had been begun. Thus, by great expense of 
labor, and of mechanical supports and other appliances, this work, for each short di«- 
tance, might be completed, and made secure, in a day, which, if for agricultural drain- 
ing, might have required, (in the necessary intermission of labor,) years for completitn, 
and to be sunk only one-third as much depth into quick-sand. 

But though the depth of this great work, for the draining and cleansing of a city, 
can never be imitated, or even approached in depth, in the country, or for agricultural 
profits, it is not therefore the less in proof of the correctness of my previous views of 
the natural features which cause the general wetness of the low country, and the proper 
and efiicient means for, and the true principle of drainage for such lands. And, in ad- 
vance of the completion of this work, and of all manifest draining results thereof, I will 
venture to predict that these results will be such as must be inferred from my rejgoning 
stated above, and that these results will be evident for all the ground within half a mile, 
or perhaps much more, from the lines of the draining culverts. 



84 AGRICULTURAL FEATURES. 

be seen, and especially in Perquimans county. The oldest tilled 
lands are here referred to. The greatest recent improvements have 
been the bringing under culture the extensive lirm swamp lands 
which have lost little or nothing of their original and great ferti- 
lity. 

On the farms of Messrs. Francis Nixon and J. T. Granberry, I 
saw the manner in which these swamp lands are brought under cul- 
tivation. The large trees, not needed for timber or fuel are belted 
and so killed. The heavy forest growth is mostly of gum, poplar, 
oak and large swamp pine, used for naval timber,) some of the lat- 
ter of great size. The smaller growth is cut down more than once, 
and mostly dies. The land is used for grazing, until the roots are 
enough rotted to permit ditching and ploughing. This will be in 
about five years after the belting of the trees. Then the principal 
ditches are dug on the plan before described, and as they are to re- 
main, except that when encountering a very large tree in the route, 
the ditch is there curved around the tree. Tiie next spi'ing, (or be- 
fore) the smaller ditches are also cut, and the land ploughed and 
planted in corn. 

There is no marl in this region, except at a few exposures of small 
extent —or rather, the marl lies too deep to be accessible. Some 
marl has been excavated and used in Princess Anne. There are 
extensive Indian banks of mussel-shells on the borders of the Chow- 
an river ; and in Currituck, an Indian bank of oyster-shells stretch- 
es almost continuously for forty miles along the eastern margin of 
the sound. There are also in shallow waters of the sounds immense 
beds of oyster-shells, in the places where the animals lived, be- 
fore being killed by the water becoming fresh. So there is no 
•Vvant of material for calcareous manuring, independent of the sup- 
plies of lime and of shells, available from the waters of the Chesa- 
peake. Some of the Indian bank-shells have been used, and more 
lime, and to good effect, as reported, and better than ought to be ex- 
pected on land not well drained. Next after supplying the fii-st ne- 
cessity, draining, liming would be especially beneficial to all the 
lands of this region. Besides other reasons, and benefits to be gain- 
ed, lime applied on the new and rich lands would serve the better to 
preserve their fertility ; and, on the poorest lands, it will enable the 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 85 

most speedy and complete acquiring of fertility. But the best ef- 
fects from lime can be counted on t;nly on land previously well 
drained, or, otherwise, not needing draining. 

The great crop, of the North Carolina counties is corn. Next to 
this, and especially in Perquimans, is wheat. These two are the 
only great crops for market. The lands generally, if not suifering 
much from wetness, produce corn well. On the new clearings of 
firm swamp lands, ditched well on tlie ordiiniry plan, fifty bushels 
to the acre may be made. I saw a small field of wheat in Princess 
Anne, (where that crop is rarely attempted, and never on large 
spaces,) and several large fields in Perquimans, that in growth 
equalled what I had just before seen on some of the best lands on 
James River. There is no better land tor the growth of wiieat than 
the soils of close and medium texture here. But the imperfect 
draining of the fields must prevent ilie product and quality of the 
grain being in proportion to the growth of straw ; and, moreover, 
the humid air of the whole region, (caused mainly by the general 
want of draining, and the consequent great evaporation from the 
earth,) makes the wheat crop more liable to be dis eased with 
rust. 

It was with much surprise, some years ago, that I heard that the 
best and largest crops of wheat in Pei'(|nimans, and in some other 
parts of this region, were still reaped by the sickle, or reap-hook. — 
This primitive mode of harvesting, which is older than the days of 
the patriarch Jacob, and which formerly was general in the United 
States, as it still is in Europe, I had supposed had everewhere, in 
this country, been substituted by the jnore expeditious scythe and 
cradle, if not by the still more modern reaping machine. And 
wdien first informed of the ancient usage remaining here, I had er- 
roneously inferred that it indicated very slow progress in agricul- 
tural knowledge and improvement. But, when on my visit, while 
finding this practice far more extended than my previous idea of it, 
I also heard reasons in its defence, which seem to maintain its good 
economy. Neither is this practice confined to small crops. The 
best farmers and largest wheat growers, who sometimes make crops 
of more than five thousand bushels, reap them with the sickle. I 
knew that, by this mode, there might be avoided much of the great 



86. AGRICULTURAL FEATURES. 

waste of wheat that is iisualW made by cradling; but had supposed 
that the slower operation of the sickle, and the high prices of har- 
vest labor, and the scarcity of laborers at any price, had caused this 
implement to be abandoned everywhere in the United States, ex- 
cept for spots of rank and tangled wheat, or on steep hill sides. — 
Even for these latter circumstances, in which the proper use of the 
sickle would always be preferable, I have not been able to resort 
to it, because none of our laborers are now accustomed to it, and they 
would make awkward and very slow work. But in this district, 
the regularuseof the sickle has never been abandoned, or suspend- 
ed, and, therefore, the laborers are expert ; and in a heavy growth 
of wheat, a good hand, with the sickle, can reap more wheat than 
he could on the same ground, with the cradle, besides saving much 
more of what is cut down. The difference of waste will more than 
pay the difference of amount of labor and greater expense through 
a crop. Further, by using the sickle, and cutting as high as can 
be to save the wheat, most of the tall straw is left standing as stub- 
ble in the field, which is the cheapest, and as good a disposition as 
can be made of it for manuring the land, and makes a vast saving 
of labor in the hauling, threshing and stacking, compared to the 
handling of all the greater length of straw, as usually cut by the 
scythe and cradle, or by a reaping machine. But, if admitting 
that the reaping of a heavy growth of wheat by the sickle is pre- 
ferable, still, in a merely agricultural country it could not be done, 
for want of the additional force of hands which this process cer- 
tainly requires. But in the peculiar condition of this district, this 
objection does not apply. There is so great a number of laborers 
employed in cutting timber, and in the fisheries, that there are 
enough, for the higher wages of harvest, to supply the then extra- 
ordinary demand for labor on every wheat farm. 

Light growths of wheat are often reaped by cradling ; and where 
both modes are thus in use together, the more extensive use of the 
sickle is, in itself, good evidence of the heavy crops of wheat raised 
here by good fanners, and on good land. Perquimans has general- 
ly stifl[' soil, and is much the best wheat producing part of this re- 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, AC. 87 

gion, (not inckuling the Roanoke bottom.) In Pasquotank the 
lands are also good, but lighter and better for corn. Those of Cam- 
den and Currituck are inferior in value of soil and agricultural pro- 
ducts, and also as to improved farming. Currituck, especially, is 
so intersected by navigable waters, and bounded by the sound and 
the ocean, that the labors or pursuits of the residents are all more 
or less connected with the water and its products. 

Except corn and wheat there is scarcely a crop of large culture 
raised for market in the North Carolina counties. Cotton, which 
is so universally and extensively cultivated in the nearest higher 
counties in North Carolina, and even to some extent in those of 
Virginia, is not attempted -here, as a crop for market. The general 
prevalence of wet soil is a sufficient cause for the absence of this 
crop. Oats, and especially hay, would be good ci-ops for this hu- 
mid climate and soil. But neither is raised for market, and hay 
scarcely at all, the fodder and shucks of corn serving in the place 
of hay, as everywhere in our corn-growing country. Yet vessel 
loads of coarse and mean hay, from the northern States, are con- 
tinually brought here for the use of the towns, and for the teams 
of the lumberers working in the swamp forests. There is no bet- 
ter country for grass east of the mountains. On the farm of Ed- 
ward H. Herbert, Esq., Princess Anne, on a large space, and else- 
where in Norfolk county, in small lots, I saw dry meadows of or- 
chard grass and clover that would have been deemed good for 
the best grass districts, and which, well attested both the fer- 
tility and good drainage of the fields on which these crops 
grew. 

In the counties in Virginia, where near to Norfolk, and w^ith easy 
access by the regular steamers to the great Northern cities, "truck" 
farming or cultivating green vegetables and fruit for sale, is the 
sole business on sundry of the most valuable farms, and it enters 
more or less into the culture of many others. This business is car- 
ried on exclusively, largely, and successfully in Norfolk county, on 
river farms only, and within a few miles of the wharves. The lim- 
itation to these localities is compelled, first, because of the neces- 



88 AGRICULTURAL FEATURES. 

sary ready access to the steam-vessels, and also because it is only 
in close neighborhood to a considerable town that numerous labor- 
ers can be hired whenever wanted for gathering vegetables and 
fruits, which requires, rarely, many hands, and tor short and uncer- 
tain lengths of time. This kind of farming is the most perfect in 
all its operatrons, the most costly in money and labor and the most 
productive, not only in the gross returns, but in nett profit, and, as 
reported, it is the only kind of farming in the county that is well con- 
ducted. It is not long since this "truck farming" has been established 
on anything like its present important position ; and in that time, 
the lands near Norfolk and Portsmouth, suitable for this business, 
and so used, have increased, in market- value and price, from 500 
to 1,000 per cent. 

This market gardening, or "truck-farming," in these large opera- 
tions, is a peculiar and remarkable branch of agriculture, which well 
deserves thorough examination, and more full report, than this slight 
notice. It is an important and admirable kind of what in England 
is called " high farming," requiring great expenses, but returning 
so much the larger profits. Compared to nearly all other farming 
of the surrounding and neighboring lands, the " truck" farms ap- 
pear like an oasis in a desert. The quantity and the cost of ma- 
nures applied on these farms, and the magnitude of other expenses, 
and still more the great returns of products and profits would be 
astonishing, if not appearing incredible, to a stranger. Still, this 
business is the most laborious employment of a proprietor, exacting 
unceasing attention, care and anxiety, for every hour. Nothing 
short of untiring industry, care, and also good judgment, can attain 
success and its great rewards ; and even all these will not always 
prevent heavy losses. The business is precarious, and subject to 
great changes and hazards, and losses, which no industry or care 
can guard against. A single severe frost, at an unusual time, may 
destroy a valuable crop, for which all the expenses have been in- 
curred, except for the gathering and shipping; and which loss may 
reduce the nett receipts expected by thousands of dollars. 

In the Virginia counties, the required drainage and culture are 



SKETCHES OF LOWER XOUTH CAROLINA, fcC. 89 

of much easier execution than in Perquimans, and yet both are more 
neghgently performed. No where docs there seem to be any regu- 
lar system of rotation of crops. This essential part of good farm- 
ing is neglected everywhere by poor and bad farmers. The most 
energetic and successful cultivators and improvers here have been 
so much occupied in the heavy labors of clearing and draining their 
new and rich swamp lands, that they had no opportunity to use 
any regular rotation of crops. This is a sufficient reason as to the 
newly cleared lands, for which, for some years, regular rotation 
W'Ould not be required, and would even be improper. But this 
circumstance, and the continued additions of new surface to the 
tilled land should not prevent the older and poorer land being 
kept under a proper rotation, or at least under a proper suc- 
cession of crops. And the neglect is the more reprehensible 
and strange, inasmuch as the farmers of this region possess pe- 
culiar facilities for rotation, in the pea-crop, and a climate admirably 
adapted to its growth. The limited territory on which both the pea 
and the wheat crop can grow well, (the one suiting so well to pre- 
pare for and aid the growth of the other.) I deem the most favored of 
all agricultural regions. Still more strange appeared to me the gen- 
eral neglect of peas as a manuring crop in this region, from some 
of the best farmers of which I obtained most of my early ^^lactical 
instruction as to this particular value of the pea-crop. Yet this 
great means for improvement, on most farms, seems to be but little 
used or appreciated. It is true, that peas are planted, as a seconda- 
ry crop, in every field of corn, and the^returns are highly valued. — 
But this pea-crop, except so much as is gathered for seed or for sale, 
is generally eaten on the ground by the hogs designed for slaughter, 
(greatly indeed for benefit in that respect,) so that very little of the 
crop, except the roots and stems, go to manure the land. I heard 
of no separate crops of broad-cast peas, (or "pea-fallow,") to pre- 
pare and manure for a su'^ceeding wheat crop, the most valuable use 
to which the pea-crop can be applied. It is a frequent practice here 
for the land in corn (and secondary peas) not to be sown in w^heat 
the autumn of the same year, (as is usual in Virginia,) but for 

J 2 



9® ^GEICLLTUIUL FEATURES. 

the field to remain until tlie autumn of the following year, and 
then to be sown in wheat. This practice leaves the field idle and 
useless all the spring and summer, when in that time it might be 
sown in peas, and bring a manuring and cleansing crop to precede 
the wheat, without any loss of time or of land. This is a regular 
part of my own established rotation, and, as supposed, its best fea- 
ture, though my more northern jiosition and shorter warm season 
render the pea-crop much less productive and beneficial than in 
this more favored region. Still more than this omission, another is 
common and as reprehensible. Wheat, in some cases, is made to 
follow wheat in two successive years. If, in such cases, there was 
merely interposed between these two crops a broad-cast crop of 
peas, (for which there is plenty of growing time,) that addition 
only would serve to substitute a cleansing, enriching, and judicious 
succession of crops, for one that is inexcusable and abominable. — 
Clover is made on most of the good farms of Perquimans, and used 
as a preparing (or fallow) crop for wheat. With the superior facil- 
ities for the best growth of peas, if I were farming in this re- 
gion, I should much prefer pea-fallow to clover-fallow, to precede 
wheat. 

The reason offered for the total omission of pea-fallow is the 
great and engrossing tillage labors required for the great crops of 
corn, and also for the wheat harvest, both of which occur with and 
include the very time in which the land for broad-cast peas should 
be ploughed and sown. This is true, and a sufficient reason, if it 
is necessary to plant in corn as much land as the laboring force 
can cultivate. But it would be much better to secure the great 
benefit of a manuring pea-crop to precede wheat, by the (tempo- 
rary) sacrifice of omitting to plant as much corn as would release 
enough labor for the additional pea-crop. This sacrifice was a ne- 
cessary incident of my own change (in 1S48) of the five-shift rota- 
tion, without pea-fiallow, to the six-shift, with one entire field un- 
der broad-cast peas. The fields of both corn and wheat, by this 
change, were reduced, severally, to five-sixths of their prerious 
size. Yet the wheat crops have continued since to increase, on the 
ofenprsl nver-'^jTe, ^v.^ ^i^ o^-.^f'er] rfor"^ ?>nrl -pini-p the previouB entire 



SKKTCUES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, ii9. 91 

product, and so have the corn-crops, except in the first year only of 
the reduced extent of cultivation. Yet the advantages of manur- 
ing by the pea-crop in my locality and climate are rery inferior to 
those of this region of North Carolina. 

While the many firm swamps remained generally under forest, 
these lands afforded excellent "range" for live stock, or a great 
quantity of food, especially for cattle and hogs. But this benefit, 
(if it was one,) has ahiiost ceased in the best cultivated parts of 
the counties on the sound. Such is Durant's Neck, the narrow and 
level and very low peninsula which stretches for twelve miles be- 
tween Perquimans and Little River to Albemarle sound. This 
land, being but a few miles wide anywhere, and bounded nearly 
around by these deep waters, is in consequence better drained, na- 
turally, than the interior lands, and is very productive. Nearly all 
this " neck" is enclosed, and an unusually large proportion of the 
whole is under tillage, and there is scarcely any unenclosed forest 
or waste land for ranging live stock, and none that affords any gra- 
zing profit. I know no place where it would be so profitable to 
dispense with fences, as is done by mutual agreement, by the pro- 
prietors of three several neighborhoods in Prince George county, 
Virginia, each including from 4,000 to S,000 acres, and making 
from 10 to 1-5 farms and separate properties. If the cultivators of 
Durant's Neck would do the like they would only have to make 
one short and straight fence to enclose all their fine farais, and save 
all the cost of their present useless fences. Yet every farm and 
field is now separately fenced in, and some of the proprietors have 
no materials for fencing, and buy, and transport from a distance, all 
their rails. This locality, more strongly than any other, shows the 
absurdity of our fence law, and also the strength and long vitality 
of old habits and opinions, when the former good reasons for them 
have long ceased to exist. If the live stock were reduced in num- 
bers to one-fourth, and these were well kept, by being herded with- 
in the farms, one cow would yield as much profit as four do now. 
And when the grazing stocks were so lessened in number there 
would be much surplus grass left to manure the pasture or other 
land. While threo-fourths of all the present fencing might be dis- 



92 A«KICULTUKAL FEATUEES. 

pensed with, the other fourth would serve to make a sufficient pas- 
ture enclosure for every farm. For nothing in geometry is more 
clearly demonstrable than the proposition that it will require great- 
ly less length of enclosure to fence in the cattle of any well clear- 
ed and settled section of country, than to fence in all the fields and 
crops to protect them from the cattle if left at large. One-lburth 
of the present fencing in Durant's Neck would suftice not only to 
make on every farm a proper pasture enclosure, but also the gener- 
al and joint barrier fence against all other people's stock. Most 
of the farmers in Prince George, who have joined in these arrange- 
ments, if not situated on the border, have no fence except the pens 
in which to confine the animals at night. But this extreme course 
is not true economy. 

In Princess Anne, there still remains so much uncleared ands wamp 
land, that the leaving cattle to range at large is deemed very profit- 
able to the owners, and perhaps, in general, it is there more an off- 
set to the expenses offences, under our fence law, than in any other 
county of lower Virginia. The open swamps bear reeds in great 
quantity, which aftbrd abundant and excellent food for cattle 
through winter and summer. There are herds of cattle that have 
become wild, and are made use of when wanted for beef, only by 
being hunted and shot. These wild cattle would be very profita- 
ble to their owners, as they require neither food nor attention, ex- 
cept that they are as much at the disposal of every other person 
who may be inclined to shoot and steal them. 

It becomes a slight observer of a newly seen agricultural district 
of novel and peculiar character, to be diffident of his own opinions 
thereon, and more especially, when they are in opposition to those 
of the judicious and experienced resident farmers. One of such 
subjects I will mention, though without any view of urging the 
superior value of my opinions and practice, in this respect on my 
friends in this region, who unanimously and strongly protested 
against them, at least for their lands. Their experience of facts, in 
contradiction, certainly deserves more to be respected than my the- 
oretical views as to this region, even though they have been 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, AC. 9S 

sustained by the results of my own practice and experience else- 
where. 

As stated before, the tillage generally, and on the best managed 
farms, is in narrow beds (five feet,) for corn, and the same size is 
preserved for wheat. The beds are reversed for every crop, both 
of corn and wheat. I will not here repeat my objections to this 
narrow bed tillage, nor my reason for preferring (where any are ne- 
cessary) beds of twenty-five or more feet in width. These views 
have been stated and argued at length in different former publica- 
tions. (The latest and fullest articles on tilhige in broad beds, and 
also on drainage in general, are in " Essays and Notes on Agricul- 
ture," 1855.) I will only say here, that all the reasons for prepar- 
ing wide beds for low and flat lands generally, apply with greater 
force to the lands of this region, and especially in Perquimans, be- 
cause they are of more regular level, and with fewer alternations of 
slight depressions and elevations, than any other low-lands within 
my knowledge. The best farmers here, with whom I have argued 
this question, object on various grounds to my broa<l beds, but es- 
pecially, because their frequent cross " hoe-furrows" are deemed 
indispensable, and if the broad and higher beds, and their deeper 
alleys were in use, the " hoc-furrows" would have to be made still 
deeper, and require more labor to dig, and to renew after every 
ploughing or horse-tillage, and be even inconvenient for the ploughs 
to cross. This objection would be valid, if, indeed, it would be 
necessary (with the broad beds, and deeper alleys) to retain the 
hoe-furrow^s ; but this necessity I doubt. For with so much higher 
beds and deeper alleys between them, on land scarcely varying 
from a level, or from a regular and gentle slope, I think that the 
deeper alleys would substitute the hoe-furrows, and render them 
superfluous, except where a cross depression of surface required a 
particular cross grip. In my own practice, on the Pamunkey flats 
the surface is much more irregular, yet there are no grips kept 
across the beds, except along the cross depressions. If the inequal- 
ities of surface level were as rare as on the Perquimans lands, my 
cross grips would be fewer and less necessary than they are. 

But if my plan of broad-beds would suit this region, theremight 



94 JLeniCULTURAL FEATURES. 

still be added thereto another improvement, which I commenced 
using in 1855, and which has been continued since on the Marl- 
bourne farm, with increasing confidence and approval. Without 
taking time here to describe and recommend the operation in gen- 
eral on the different circumstances of my own farm and practice, I 
will merely apply the plan to the present existing divisions and 
ditches of the Perquimans lands.* We will suppose that these 
present ditches are all necessary and proper to be retained — though 
such is not my opinion, if a different system of drainage were in 
use. Then suppose merely the change that each of the rectanguif^ 
lar enclosed spaces of 150 feet wide, instead of being, as now, in 
thirty beds of five feet wide, was ploughed into six beds, each of 
25 feet width. After two or three years ploughing and tillage, and 
gathering of these wide beds separately, they would be as high, 
and their intermediate alleys as deep as desirable. Then, instead 
of continuing to plough each bed separately, the first furrow should 
be cut alongside of tlie central alley, and turning the slice into it. 
This furrow should begin and end at 75 or 80 feet distance from 
the ends of the rectangular "slip," or at (or something less than) 
the same distance of the central alley from the sides of the slip. — 
Turning the plough at that distance, another furrow should be cut 
alongside, and throwing the slice to the first, thus making, a "list" 
in the former central alley. So the ploughing would proceed 
around this first list, cutting across the ends as well as along the 
sides, and throwing every furrow-slice towards the centre of the 
ploughing. This ploughing, though flush, and cutting across the 
ends as well as along the beds, and with no regard paid to the alleys, 



* When I first began this manner of flush ploughing of low and bedded land, and with 
considerable appn hension as to its complete success, it was not known to me that any 
other farmer had either used or thought of the same method. But, subsequently, when 
recommending it to the trial of E. H. Herbert, Esq., of Princess Anne, as an important 
tkii t« his usual efficacious practice of draining, he informed me that he had already in- 
troduced and used this plan of flush ploughing on his land earlier than my first trial of 
it, and had found the results entirely satisfactory. 

A communication to the State Agricultural Society, particularly describing: and direet" 
iag this plan of flush ploughing, will be appended to this article. 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 96 

would scarcelyalter the outline of the previous surface, and would not 
lessen the height of the crowns of the beds or the depth of the al- 
leys, except the central alley, which would in time be filled, and 
would not then be needed. The outside furrows would just reach 
the encircling- ditches of the "slip," turning the depth and width 
of a furrow-slice from each at every repetition of such ploughing. 
One or two furrows run along each of the old alleys, after the flush 
ploughing, would clean them out and put the broad-beds in their 
original shape, and they would be more thoroughly broken by this 
mode of ploughing. Every successive plougliing of the land to 
prepare for any crop should be done in like manner. The tenden- 
cy and operation would be to raise the central jjart of each rectan- 
gular division so ploughed around, and to lower and slope the sides 
and ends, or margins, next to the surrounding ditches. After a few 
such ploughings the shallow tap-ditches would be, to the eye, al- 
most obliterated, or changed to mere ploughed alleys or grijis. Yet 
in fact, they might be deeper than before, and would certainly be 
more operative for surface drainage than before. The preserving 
and cleaning out of these "tap-ditches," instead of requiring spades 
and shovels, would thereafter be as well done by the last finishing 
furrows of the plough. These ditches would no longer present any 
obstruction to the crossing of ploughs, or partly loaded carts. If 
desired, (and it might be even desirable in future time,) the corn- 
rows and their ploughing, in narrow beds, might be directed across 
the beds and tap-ditches. Further, the end margins of the "slip" 
being equally depressed, and sloped to the edges of the larger lead- 
ing ditches, these would be much more easily crossed by teams, and 
fewer and smaller bridges would be required. Thus, in the course 
of time, each separate "slip" would be converted to one broad bed 
of 160 feet wide, and gently rounding surface, and 1000 feet long, 
(the present dimensions of the separate divisions) with sloped mar- 
gins and ditches between, deeper than before, yet presenting 
either little obstruction, or none, to the crossing of plough« and 
teams. 



96 AGRICULTURAL FEATURES. 

POSTSCRIPT. 

LANDS ON THE CHOWAN AND ROANOKE. 

A later excursion to a portion of Chowan county, and to some of 
the best farms on the Roanoke river, enables me to add something 
to the foregoing notes of this generally uniform region, and especi- 
ally in remarkable exceptions, on the Roanoke, to this general uni- 
formity of agricultural character. 

In Chowan county, my view extended only over the lands with- 
in 12 miles of Edenton, and from 3 to 4 miles back from the Cho- 
wan river and Albemarle Sound. The general elevation of the sur- 
face is from 11 to 14 feet above the level of the Sound — and the 
land is more uniform in level than any other that I had before seen. 
The soils are moderately stiff, and of good texture for producing 
wheat. Before being cleared of the forest growth, and ditched, 
most of the surface of the land was subject to be covered by the 
water left by heavy rains. The system of drainage in general use 
is similar to that of Perquimans. But the small parallel (or "tap") 
ditches are wider apart — usually ISO feet. According to this sys- 
tem, the details of draining were well executed, and effective ; and 
the lands best drained, (especially those of Dr. Thomas Warren,) 
were very fertile and productive. These, where seen in their na- 
tural state, seemed to the eye, and by their growth and wetness, to 
be swamp. But in fact, they are of the highest level of the neigh- 
borhood, and among the dryest, after being drained and cultiva- 
ted. The natural forest growth was principally of black gum, ash, 
maple, with some oak and pine — and with these, a general under- 
growth of reeds. For miles, no change of level of the surface was 
visible ; and the slight general descent of surface could be known 
only by the direction of the flow of water in the lai-ger ditches. — 
The farms bordering on the Sound, only, have some narrow depres- 
sions, of a few feet only in depth, which serve as exceptions to the 
otherwise general level of the surface. The water in the wells of 
Edenton and the neighboring country is generally about 13 feet be- 
low the surface of the land. This would indicate that the water- 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 9^' 

glutted sand-bed here lies too low to produce the damage elsewhere, 
usual to land, by keeping water on the surface — or to afford a facil- 
ity for draining operations, by tapping the sand-bed by deep drains, 
or by boring. On these points, my hasty and limited observa- 
tions, aided by inquiry, afford no information better than conjec- 
ture. 

The broad Chowan is the only river of all this low-land region, 
east of the Roanoke, which receives any considerable supply of war 
ter from higher and distant sources, or is filled by any other than 
the refluent water of Albemarle Sound. And even as to the Chow- 
an, all the water brought by its upper tributaries, the Meherrin, 
Nottoway and Blackwater rivers, if alone, would not usually fill the 
twentieth part of the broad and deep bed of the Chowan. So that 
even this greatest of these neighboring rivers is but a partial and 
limited exception to their general character of having almost no head- 
springs, or supplies from remote sources. 

But the Roanoke is remarkably different in these respects. Its 
very distant sources are in the Alleghany Mountains, and they make 
large streams, at all times, even at the base of these mountains. Its 
bed, throughout its long course to Albemarle sound, is very narrow 
for the great quantity of water flowing therein, and which ordina- 
ry supply is enormously increased by the transient rain-floods com- 
ing from the upper country. These rise to great heights, and cause 
great injury to the very rich and extensive bottom lands bordering 
on this river. But for the rare and terrible disasters to the crops, 
caused by these high freshes, they M^ould be of great improving ben- 
efit to the fertility of lands they overflow, in the abundant deposit 
of richest alluvium which tlie water leaves. This deposit has made, 
andmaintains, the Roanoke lands the richest on the Atlantic slope; 
and they would be more valuable than the bottom lands of any of 
the rivers of that slope, but for their greater liability to be over- 
flowed, which is owing to the remarkable narrowness of the whole 
bed and course of the river, compared to its length, and to the vo- 
lume of water which it conveys. The bed of the river, and even to 
its outlet into the Sound, is too narrow to discharge its floods ; and 

13 



98 AGRICULTURAL FEATURES. 

hence they overflow the bordering low grounds, of the second ter- 
race as well as the first or lowest, to their great damage. Thus 
these rich alluvial low grounds of the Eoanoke are greatly subject 
to disaster from being overflowed by floods, from which danger the 
low borders of the other rivers of Albemarle Sound are almost en- 
tirely exempt. 

That the low lands of the Roanoke are so diflferent from all of the 
neighboring rivers, is owing but in part to the great length of its 
course, from its distant mountain head-springs. This indeed causes 
the great volume of the floods, as well as their great burden of rich 
alluvium. But there is still an additional cause for the obstructed 
discharge, in the different geological character of the land over 
which the lower course of this river passes. The lower channels 
of the other neighboring rivers, on both sides, together Avith their 
bordering lands, seem all to have subsided, at some far remote time 
below their former levels. But the bed of the Roanoke seems to 
have preserved its original elevation, if indeed it has not been actu- 
ally up-heaved still higher. The primitive rock shows in ledges un- 
der the channel of the Roanoke far below the foot of the great falls ; 
and even high above the present height of water in the bank at Hal- 
ifax ferry. The river is very uniform in breadth, and not varying 
much from about one hundred and twenty yards, from the falls to 
Albemarle Sound. 

The " first low ground" or lowest terrace, gives the richest soil 
— which however is not black, or dark-colored, but of reddish yel- 
low, or hazel loam. The " second low ground" is worse in quality, 
but still is good land. The " third" is still worse ; and there is in 
some cases still a fourth terrace, nearly as high as, though evident- 
ly lower than, and difi'erent from, the highest table or ridge land, 
which is usually sandy and naturally poor. 

Corn is the great crop of the Roanoke lands. Though fine crops 
of wheat are raised by the Messrs. Burgwyn, in Northampton, Co., 
N. C, and J. C. Johnson, in Halifax, giving evidence of the fit- 
ness of the low ground soils for that crop. Cotton is the next great- 
est crop to corn ; and this culture is sufficient evidence that the lands 
on which it succeeds do not naturally suffer damage from under or 
spring water. The farmers have not much to do for drainage, ex- 



SKETCHES OP LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 9.9 

cept to exclude, by deep and broad ditches and tlieir banks, and to 
vent by culverts, the streams and rain -floods coming in from the 
high lands, and, by djdves, to keep off the high floods of the river. 
Both these great objects are well effected only on the properties of 
a few of the planters — at enoriuons expense, but at far less cost than 
the alternative of losing the growing crops usually once in 7 to 10 
years, on an average. 

The land nearest to the river, whether of the first or second ter- 
race, is always higher than the exterior of the same terrace farther 
back from the river. This shape of the surface offers the highest 
foundation for the dykes next to the river, where they are required 
to be placed. There are great differences and frequent changes in 
the elevation of ground bordering on the river, and consequently 
as much difference in the required heights of the embankments. — 
The home plantation of Th. P. Devereux, Esq., Counucanara, in 
Halifax county, North Carolina, is protected by an embankment ris- 
ing to the height of 26 feet throughout above the low-water level of 
the river. The highest fresh yet known, before the embankment 
was made, rose 22 feet, and covered the whole plantation except a 
few acres. Much of the dyke, being on the margin of the highest ele. 
vation, is only 4 feet high. But one part, which seemed about half 
a mile long, is 1-i feet high. To every foot of perpendicular 
height, there is given 5 feet width of base. On Polenta, in JN^orth- 
arapton, anotherof Mr. Devereux's several plantations, (all of which 
are thus secured by embankments,) the dyke, for 200 to 250 yards 
of its length is 17 feet high, and more than 100 broad at the base. 
And these high embankments are not the only heavy expense. For 
it is through their highest ])arts (these being over the lowest sur- 
face of the land,) that it is necessary to keep open large culrerts to 
discharge the waters of land streams and rain-floods, and from which 
by valves, to exclude the river-floods when these are higher than 
the interior water. On this and four other adjacent farms there are 
7 of the large-sized culverts, which cost about $2000 each — and 
three of these are on one only of the farms. These culverts are 
constructed of wood, and of course cannot be very durable. Still, 
great as is the expense, for embankment and culverts, for each plan- 
tation, it is cheaply paid for in the safety of a single crop, which 



100 A(1IllCi;i/iri!AL FEATURi:?!. 

■would otherwise be lost, if without this means fur security from in- 
undation. Such is the correct reasoning of each individual pro- 
prietor, and improver in this mode. And thus, each one of the few 
who have yet so improved, may secure his ov.'n possessions from the 
floods of tlie river. But it is obvious that every such embankment, 
operating as an obstruction, inusl serve to raise the floods somewhat 
liio-her on tlie lands still subject to be submers^ed. Aud should 
every proprietor exercise liis equal right to embank all his own 
lands, and thus the general operation shall strive to confine the ri- 
ver within the limits of its shores, the attempt must fail, and the 
floods, rising higher in proportion to their lateral confinement, will 
overtop any dykes v.'hich can be made by separate individuals, each 
working on his own separate plan. It would be veiy far better, 
and the oidy means by which general success can possibly be attain- 
ed, if the State were to require such works to be constructed on one 
uniform and the best general plan, for the benefit of all the lands 
and their proprietors. If such general plan confined the water to 
its present channel, that confinement would cause much increased 
velocity and power of abrasion, and thereb}' a deepening of the 
bed of the river, if the bottom is soft enough to be so deepened by 
washing. And if this effect would be prevented by only a tew nar- 
row ledges of rocks too hard to be lowered b}' abrasion, it might be 
•well worth the expense of deeper passages being opened through 
such narrow and harder obstructions. All the additional and gen- 
eral depth that could beso gained, would serve for the improvement 
of navigation of the river, as well as to aid the operation of the 
embankments to protect the lands from the river- floods. 



SKETCHES OF LOWER XORTII CAROLINA, AC. 101 



A NEW PLAN FOR PLOUGHING FLAT LAND IN 
AID OF DRAINAGE. 



On the borders of the Atlantic tide water rivers, and for more 
extended spaces near the moutlis of these rivers, tliere are many 
and large bodies of low land and of sni-faces nearly level, or but 
slightly undulating. All such lands, naturally, are more or less 
wet and require drainage for their good tillage and production. — 
And whether drained effectively, or ever so imperfectly, such lands, 
under culture, usually require, and have a number of open ditches, 
to collect and carry off the streams, and the excess of rain and sur- 
face water. In former publications,* I have offered my views at 
length in regard to the proper modes of draining, and the subse- 
quent tillage (in very wide beds,) of lands of this class — and there- 
fore these important and main branches of the general subject need 
not be here discussed. Nor will eithei- be mentioned, except inci- 
dentall}', and as necessary for explanation of the later and auxilia- 
ry improvement by the manner of ploughing, which I design now 
to set forth, and to recommend. 

Whether any field, or farm, of the flat surface in view, is drained 
properly or improperly, there will be many ditches running in dif- 
ferent directions. Where the lands are most level (as in large 
spaces of interior lands of lower Yirginia and North and South Ca- 
rolina,) the ditches may be placed almost anywhere, and in any di- 
rection, to operate as designed. But more generally, and especially 
on the borders of rivers, the surface has so many and frequent 
though it may be but slight undulations, that the open drains, for 



* "Bggayj and Notes on Agriculture," and the preceding portion of this Re- 
port. 



102 AGRICULTURAL FEATURES. 

rain or surfece water, must be placed precisely in the lowest de- 
pressions, and directed in the courses of these depresions. As these 
latter circumstances are the most usual, and are the most difficult, I 
will suppose them to exist, when making the following remarks.— - 
Then, in a field of this kind, we may suppose there to be many 
slight and mostly narrow depressions, running in various directions 
between the somewhat higher and very much broader intervals of 
dryer land, but still not dry enough for draining to be dispensed 
with. Through all these depressions, (even where there are no 
springs to collect, or permanent stream to vent,) there pass open rain- 
ditches, which are impassable by ploughs and teams — or smaller 
grips, which, perhaps are ploughed across, and therefore require 
cleaning out, and almost renewing, after every ploughing of the 
ground. In either case, these open surface-drains, of whatever 
sizes, are great sources of trouble, and great impediment to til- 
lage. 

Further — as the depressions are usually but very little below the 
level of the near adjacent ground — and the line of the ditch is not 
at all lower than its borders — it follows that the earth thrown out in 
the first digging must raise the margins — perhaps to be raised still 
higher by every subsequent cleaning out of the difcch. These banks 
even if spread as far as to be thrown by shovels, still raise the mar- 
gins — and if even but two or three inches higher than the ground, 
farther off from the ditch, this slight elevation seriously impairs the 
proper draining effect of the ditch. 

Further — when the ploughs have to stop and turn at the sides of 
the ditches, they always bring there and leave some earth on the 
margins — and this serves still more to counteract drainage, and to 
cause future labor. 

Such would be existing evils, even when great and unusual care 
is used to remove the first raised banks of ditches, and to prevent 
subsequent accumulations of earth there. But it is much more 
common, and far worse, to let the ditch banks remain to raise the 
margins — and further, to add to them by the subsequent ploughing, 
(if flush,) being so ordered that every furrow-slice, cut near to the 
ditch, is turned towards its banks. 

Within the last two years, 1 have introduced a new manner of 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 



103 



flush plougliing, which serves from the beginning to moderate the 
evils in qnestion ; and wliich, in the course of time, will have the 
best effects in adding to the draining operation and effects of open 
ditclies, of all kinds and sizes, and also in lessening the future 
labors for maintaining their proper operation. 



F^ce OR BORDER OF ANOTHER FIELD^ 




The above figure or diagram, wiD enable me to explain more 
clearly the manner of ploughing. The whole space represents a 
field, or part of a field, which is divided by two long depressions 
into three irregularly shaped " cuts" or divisions, D, E, F. Along 
the middle of the larger interior depression, there had been kept 



104 AGRICULTURAL FEATURES. 

open a narrow rain ditcli, of the usual shape, h^ h, say 2 feet deep, 
and 3 wide, (and which depth was necessary,) at which the pU^ugli 
and teams had to turn, because of the impassable obstruction. The 
other and smaller depression had a grip (a, a) say 15 inches wide 
and 10 deep, across which the ploughs passed, and which was filled 
and required cleaning out after every ploughing. A permanent 
stream ditch, c, d, is one of the boundaries, bordered on both sid^s 
bv the lowest ground of the field. A rain ditch g, b, d, makes ano- 
ther boundary, a farm road another, and on the fourth side is a 
fence along side of the adjacent farm — or another field of the same 
farm. 

It is desired to plough each of these cuts in such manner as to 
throw every furrow-slice from the outsides, and towards the centre. 
It is supposed that the ditch h, b, and the grip a, a, are in the best 
locations — that is, combining as much as possible the requisites of 
having the shortest courses that can be obtained in the lowest 
ground. If any defect of location exists, it should be corrected, 
and the ditch or grip be made correct in position. This being done, 
the next thing is t<» mark off the ground for ploughing. The field 
is supposed to have been left, after the last previous tillage, either 
in broad beds (25 feet or more,) high enough and well sloped — or 
otherwise in low and narrow beds, previously designed to be 
ploughed flush, and to be again bedded in the progress of tilling 
the corn crop. Tlie farmer, or a careful and intelligent man, and 
a boy, having each one end of a strong but light cord (of strong 
hemp twine) about 75 feet long, will direct the ploughman where 
to mark. Taking one cut (as D,) the man M'alks along the outside 
lines, or as close thereto as the near horse of a plough-team can 
easily and safely walk. The boy carries the string stretched, and 
keeps it at right-angles to the out-side line on which the man walks. 
The plough-man, with a small one-horse plough, or coulter, follows 
the track of the boy, and barely scratches the ground, so as to make 
a perceptible mark. If a larger furrow were opened, it would be 
an inconvenience to the main work. Thus, if beginning on the cut 
D, the first line laid off, will be A, h, A, h, h, parallel to, and the 
length of the line distant from the surrounding boundary line of the 
cut D. At each angle, the plough should mark a little beyond its 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 105 

supposed full distance, and then be lifted back to the proper place 
indicated by the length of the string, when st''etched trom the next 
side. The intersection of the farrows will mark the exact place for 
the angle. Thus each successive marking will be made, parallel to 
and equi-distant from the preceding, until the work reaches nearly to 
the centre. If the last circuit made (*', ^, **,) does not permit the 
line to be again used at its full length, it should be shortened, to any 
less length (say thirty or forty feet), and another and the smallest 
interior space (D) marked around. Next, the plough should mark 
a line from each of the angles of the inner space through the corres- 
ponding angles to the outer boundary, as the dotted lines are 
placed. 

The cut is now ready to be ploughed. The plough is first run 
around the small interior space (D) turning the slices toward the 
centre. And as the furrows in the beginning are very short, it 
wall be best (to save much trouble in the frequent turning,) not 
then to use a team of more than two horses. But as soon as 
the furrows are of sufficient length, this temporary expedient 
should be laid aside, and the larger plough and team suitable for 
the land be used. After a few furrows are cut around the inside 
marked circuit, so as to well designate the outline, then the small 
interior space T> should be ploughed outward ; or any way will 
serve. The plough then resumes its previous place and course, 
and continues to go around, and to turn the slices inward. The 
ploughman, in running every furrow should let the plough cut 
straight and fully up to and turn at the dotted lines. This will 
keep the work right at the angles, in which places it would other- 
wise be sure to get out of order. But with this care, and with 
cutting all the furrows as straight and as equal as every plough- 
man should do, the ploughing will go on as correctly as in any 
other mode — and with less loss of labor, and with more thorough 
execution. More thorough, because there will be no unbroken 
strips left, and only covered, as in all ridge or bed-ploughing — 
and no unnecessary and barren water-furrows made, where of no 
use, as in the closing of " lands" in all flush-ploughing. Further 
— as the ploughman approaches within a few yards of the next 

14 



106 AGRICULTURAL FEATURES 

marked line, and still more when nearer, he lias in that a test and 
gauge of his previous work, and a sure guide for the next suc- 
ceeding. Wherever his last cut furrows obviously Var}-^ from be- 
ing parallel to, or of equal distance from, the surrounding and 
nearest mark, he has but to make the width of his subsequently 
cut slices to suit and remedy the defects. The differences of tex- 
ture or condition of the soil, or of the cover of vegetable matter, 
will cause the plough to gain more in width in some places than 
in others, if no care is used to prevent. But with the guidance 
of the parallel lines marking the widths, and the cross-lines indi- 
cating the proper points for the angles of the furrows, it will be 
easy for the ploughman, (or for any number of ploughs following 
each other on the same cut,) to make even and equal work, and 
to close at the outside lines, with but little loss of labor in broken 
furrows. It is obvious that the outside boundaries, whether made 
by ditches, fences, or growing crops on adjacent fields, can be 
ploughed more nearly to, in this mode, than in any other what- 
ever. 

The ploughs, and the depth of ploughing, may be any of descrip- 
tion suitable to the soil. But, for the convenience of reference 
to effects, I will suppose the operation and conditions to be like 
my own. In that, the ploughs for breaking up, whether in win- 
ter, to prepare rough or grass land for corn, or in summer, to pre- 
pare clover, (or weed) land for wheat, are drawn by four mules, 
and usually in easy ground, cut and turn slices 7 to 8 inches deep 
and 12 to 14 inches wide. 

First, let us consider the operation of the ploughing, in refer- 
ence to its great and usually sole object, that of thoroughly break- 
ing, loosening, subverting, and giving tilth to the soil, for suffi- 
cient depth, and also burying and covering the vegetable matter 
which stood on the previous surface. 

The land is supposed (like mine) to have been left (at the pre- 
vious tillage,) in straight and well shaped broad and high beds — 
say 25 or 27 1-2 feet wide, and about sixteen inches of differ- 
ence of perpendicular height between the centre or crown of 
the bed, and the bottom of the alley. The new ploughing will 



SKETCHES OP LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 107 

iivjcessai'ily cross the former ploughing, and the beds and alleys, 
in every variety of direction. In part, the farrows will run in 
precisely the same direction with the beds and alleys — in part, 
they will cross at right angles — and elsewhere, they will cross 
diagonally, at angles of diiierent s'ze. Before trial, I feared great 
difhculties, and especially in ploughing across the beds at right- 
angles. But, in practice, the difficulties were much less than ex- 
pected—and, on the whole, less than belong to any other and usual 
mode of ploughing. When ploughing directly across the beds, 
it is true that the new furrow is of very unequal depths — perhaps 
10 inches at the middle of the bed, and barely 1 to 2 inches when 
crossing the bottom of the deep and narrow alley. But these 
very different depths, if something more laborious to the team, 
are more suitable to the requirements of the soil in the extremes 
of thickness, made artificially by the former bedding The deep- 
er ploughing under the crown of the bed is still the more benefi- 
cial, because that place had been broken but imperfectly, or not at 
all, by the previous ploughing, W'hich raised the bed, and lapped 
the soil without breaking it below^, at the crowns of the beds. In 
the alleys, where the new ploughing barely scraped, the sub-soil 
had generally been previously reached, in deepening the alleys ; 
and no greater depth of ploughing was needed, inasmuch as the 
beds are to remain as they were before. When the new plough- 
ing is immediately across the old beds (or at right angles) the beds 
necessarily there retain precisely their former position, and, im- 
mediately after the new ploughing, appear even higher than be- 
fore. In the alleys there w^as so little cutting, and so little of 
other earth thrown in, that there will be but little earth to clean 
out, to leave these beds in better shape, as well as in better tilth, 
than after any former ploughing. 

The advantages of more easily and thoroughly breaking the 
ground, and the disadvantages of throwing more of the ploughed 
soil into the alleys, both increase as the direction is changed to be 
diagonal — and from diagonal to coinciding with the direction of 
the alleys. There could be nothing of this disadvantage (worth 
consideration) of throwing more earth into the alleys, if every fur- 



108 AGRICULTURAL FEATURES. 

row was of equal depth, whether in the highest or lowest places — 
or at tiie crowns of the beds and in the alleys. In that case, 
wherever any part of a furrow was opened, it would be filled by 
the next cut furrow-slice, of precisely equal size. But in practice 
the furrow-slices are not of equal thickness whether cut at the 
crown, or at the side of the bed, and in the alley, ( — and they 
ought not to be equal — ) and therefore the new flush ploughing 
does operate slightly to change for the worse the previous relative 
positions of the beds. But this change and damage, is less than 
is usually made by the careless ploughing of beds, in the same 
direction, and whether with the design of raising and preserving 
the same beds, or cleaving and reversing them. After the flush 
ploughing described, and in every direction, the former alleys are 
plainly to be distinguished. And, at a proper time and condition 
of the land, the running of a two horse plough up and down in 
eachalle}', will sweep out cleanly all the loosened earth that would 
absorb rain-water, and obstruct its discharge, and leave each bed 
and alley in the best designed shape and condition for surface 
drainage. But this opening of the alleys cannot be well done im- 
mediately after the ph.nghing of each cut, nor until rain shall 
have fallen, and dried off, ?o that the loose and turfy earth has 
been somewhat consolidated. In the interval between the plough- 
ing and the subsequent opening of the former alleys, the only evil 
and danger of the plan may occur, in the fall of so much rain that 
it will be long before the then water-glutted alleys will be fit for 
the plough ; and when, consequently, great damage will be caused 
by this long water-soaking of the earth in the alleys. Every care 
should be used to prevent this evil. 

This manner of iiloughing should be used certainly for eveiy 
winter ploughing, (to prepare for corn,) and it may be for any 
other time when the farmer is sure of being able to com]tlete any 
one cut, before being stopped in any part of it by hardness of the 
soil caused by drouglit. On this account, it may be too hazardrtus 
to resort to this kind of ploughing, in summer, when " fallow- 
ing," or ploughing grass land to prepare for wheat. Except for 
this danger of being stopped by drought, summer would be the 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 109 

best time for the operation, as there would be then no danger of 
damage to the land from the occurrence of saturating and 
injurious rains, while the alleys were still partially choked by 
loose earth. 

So much in regard to the effects of this mode of ploughing on 

tilth, and as affecting the preservation of the former bedding. 

Next I will describe the much more important effects and the 
main object, in aid of surface-drainage. While the ploughing will 
be as cheap, and more effectual, as ploughing merely, it will at 
the same time, and with no more expense, greatly aid the other 
and proper labors for the most effectual surface drainage. 

In general terms, the effect of every such ploughing is to re- 
move the entire surface soil, to the depth ploughed, from the out- 
side towards the centre, as much as the width of the furrow slices. 
The amount of earth thus removed is enormous. It is dug and 
removed by the cheapest possible implement and process — and 
even this labor costs nothing for draining, in as much as it is re- 
quired for and compensated as necessary tillage. As each furrow- 
slice removed is replaced by another, there will be but very little 
(and unappreciable) effect in altering the general level of each 
cut. But the effect will be considerable at the outside furrow^, 
even at the first operation : and still more and more at every 
subsequent ploughing, so long as it may be expedient to con- 
tinue the same manner of ploughing, for furthering the same ob- 
ject. 

If the furrows were cut equal, with perfect accuracy, the results 
might be exhibited to the eye and understanding with geometrical 
exactness and force. And this can still be done, with due allov/ances 
for the imperfection of practical operations compared to theory. But 
to some extent, practice in this case may even surpass tse theory 
stated. For, while the latter supposes equal dimensions of furrow- 
slices throughout each cut, in practice, it will be quite easy to cut 
the few outside slices of greater than the general depth, and go 
the more to lower the outside margin. 

There is another thing which will be hsre mentioned, which 
should be understood hereafter in every named operation. — 



110 AGRICULTURAL FEATURES. 

When a boundary line of a cut is a ditch, (of the usual steep and 
irregular sides,) the team cannot safely walk so close to the edge 
as to plough and turn away all the margin earth. There must 
be from three feet to one foot left everywhere uncut (according 
to the depth or irregularity of the side of the ditch) which earth 
will require to be dug and pulled back by hand-hoes, which thus 
performs what the plow cannot do at first. This hoe work be* 
ing always understood, and always required in aid of any man- 
ner of ploughing, (and much less in this than any other,) need 
not again be referred to. And the cutting to the edge of the 
ditch will be supposed to be effected by the plough, though al- 
ways (for the earlier work) requiring to be finished by hand- 
hoes. 

Then the effect of the first ploughing on this plan, by a four- 
horse plough, will be to remove the whole surface soil, for eight 
inches deep, a furrow's width (say twelve inches) in the direc- 
tions from the outside to the centre. And the outside furrow- 
slice, or earth of the dimensions stated, will be removed entire- 
ly and permanently from its former position, — and its equiv- 
alent quantity distributed over the interior or central space of 
the cut. 

This operation will lower the margin of the boundary ditches 
or grips, eight inches deep, and for a width of twelve inches. — 
When the like ploughing has been done on the adjoining cut, 
(E) and to the other side of the grip a, a, the furrow slices would 
thus be removed from both sides of the old grip, and nearly as 
deep. A furrow then run along its course, and back in the same 
track, would deepen the grip, partly fill and slope the borders, 
and thus, while the grip would be made deeper and better for 
drainage, it would be less an impediment to tillage, and less 
liable to be entirely filled by earth by being ploughed across. — 
"When the like ploughing is subsequently repeated, another furrow 
slice is removed from the outsides of the cuts, and so much a 
more gentle slope is given to the grip. Then, and thereafter, the 
plough will be sufiicient to clean the loose earth out of the grips. 
If more depth is desired, it can be given in closing the ordinary 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. Ill 

ploughing. And even if made of double the former depth, so wide 
and so gentle will be the slope of the margins, that the grip will 
present no serious obstacle to the crossing of ploughs, in any direc- 
tion, of carts, or even of the passage, at work, of reaping ma- 
chines. 

The same operation of lowering and sloping off the margins o^ 
the deeper rain ditches would be proceeding in the like manner, 
and would only require longer time to approach or perhaps reach 
the same good results. Even the deepest stream ditches would 
be much improved, in their surface drainage operation ; and 
their obstruction to tillage and to other team labors be greatly 
diminished. 



PA.RT 111. 

SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &< 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE FEATURES AND CHANGES 
OF THE OCEAN SAND-REEF, AND THE EN- 
CLOSED NAVIGABLE WATERS 
OF NORTH CAROLINA, 



I. — General remarAs on the Sand-reef, its inlets and their changes 
and their operatiojis on the enclosed waters. 

The broad spaces of navigable waters enclosed within the bound- 
aries of North Carolina, are as peculiar and remarkable in charac- 
ter as the various kinds of low-land margins which surround them 
— and parts of which enclosing land scarcely permit those waters 
to connect with, and to dischai'ge into the close adjacent ocean. — 
All the great waters, known under the names of difierent "sounds," 
and all the large estuaries and deep and nearly still waters of the 
sundry broad rivers discharging therein, may be considered as to- 
gether forming one great lake of very irregular shape and out-lines. 
Pamlico Sound, from the great estuary of the Neuse river to 
Roanoke Island, is more than 60 miles long in a straight course, 
and 75 along the curve of the middle, and perhaps 35 miles at its 
greatest width, and about 25 of general average width, Albemarle 
Sound is about 50 miles long, and 10 or 12 of average, and 15 of 
greatest width. These two greatest Sounds and areas are connect- 

IS 



114 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

etl by the iiaiTOwer passages of Croatan and Roanoke Sounds, 
which severally separate Roanoke Island from the main land (of 
great swamp,) and the ocean sand-reef. Another connected sound 
is Curritnck, extending from Albemarle Sound northward, between 
the main land and the ocean reef, and generally from 4 to G and in 
part 10 miles wide, along all the more northern coast of NorthCaro- 
lina. A still more northern extension, under the name of Back bay, 
generally much more narrow and shallow, stretches into Virginia, 
and comes to an end not many miles south of the Chesapeake Bay 
and Cape Henry. South of Pamlico the much narrower and shal- 
low passage called Core Sound connects the former with the har- 
bor of Beaufort, where there is a deep and broad passage into the 
ocean. South of this, and as far as the South Carolina line, the 
sand-reef continues, oidy interrupted, as a bai rier to the ocean, 
by the entrance of the Cape Fear river, and a few other and 
much smaller " inlets," or deep breaches through the sand-reef. — 
BoQ:ue Sound and its south-western continuations, fi'om Beaufort 
harbor to South Carolina, make a continuous and regular body of 
enclosed water, iron] 1 to 4 miles wide, and one hundred and 
twenty miles or more in length, and generally navigable for vessels 
of light draft. 

The larger of these sounds are shallow, and afford good naviga- 
tion only to vessels drawing not more than eight feet of water. For 
vessels of no greater draft, the navigation of Albemarle and Pamli- 
co is excellent, and is rendered safe from storms by the pi'otection 
afforded by the reef, which makes the whole of the enclosed ex- 
panse of water one great and secure harbor. The upper or most 
inland parts of the sounds are deeper than where nearer to their out- 
lets or to the ocean, and the many rivers which empty therein are 
mostly deeper, and generally much deeper than the deepest waters 
of the sounds — and most of these rivers aftbixl deep and good navi- 
gation to near their highest sources in the Dismal or other great 
swamps. Taking the whole space within the outlines of Pamlico, 
Albemarle and Currituck sounds, and their connecting waters, and 
of all the deep, f^till and unobstructed waters of the many rivers dis- 
charging therein, there is not one of the Atlantic States, which has 



REA[AKK8 OX TTIE SAND-REEF. 115 

sucli great extent of good and smootli navigable water — and safe 
from storms also, by its typographical features, and entirely secured 
from any invasion, or eft'ective blockade, by a liostile naval force. — 
But these remarkable and otherwise valuable characteristics are 
rendered almost nugatory by another remarkable feature of this 
region. There is now no access to the ocean, through the sand- 
reef, so good and deep as the narrow Ocracoke inlet, which now 
only permits vessels of six feet draft to pass over the bar across the 
inlet, after tedious delays and much danger, and which passage 
opens upon an unsheltered and most dangerous sea coast. The 
whole ocean shore of North Carolina is a terror to navigators, and 
is noted for the niunber of shipwrecks, and especially near Cape 
Hatteras. 

This closed condition of the sand-reef did not always exist ; and 
indeed, one of the most remarkable operations which produced the 
present state of things, occurred within very recent time. The 
clianges of position and depth of the diflerent "inlets," or passages 
for the ocean and sound waters acro'ss the reef-barrier, present one 
of the most remarkable conditions of this whole remarkable re- 
gion. 

The first colony settled by the English in America was on Roan- 
oke Island, lying between Albemarle and Pandico sounds — and to 
which settlement the name of Virginia was first applied. To reach 
this then first discovered island and its surrounding waters. Sir Wal- 
ter Raleigh's vessels entered by a then open and broad and deep pas- 
sage through the reef, (afterwards known as Roanoke inlet,) the 
permanancy of which no one could then have doubted ; and the 
security and convenience of which entrance invited the planting of 
the English colony on this then accessible and magnificent ocean 
harbor. Now, that passage, and also other and later-formed navi- 
gable and deep inlets, have been completely closed, and even obli- 
terated. 

During great storms, the ocean often breaks across the sand-reef, 
and sometimes thus cuts new passages, which, for much the greater 
number, are sooner or later again closed by drifted sand. There are 
unquestionable evidences visible, in what are called " bulk-heads," 



lie* SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

(or points of sand stretching to and terminating abruptly, and with 
steep ends, in the water of the sounds) showing that many different 
inlets, formerly at different times, have been forced open by the 
ocean through the reef, and which were subsequently again closed 
by sand brought by the waves or winds. The newest of such inlets 
and the only one now navigable for sea-vessels, except Ocracoke 
(and north of the Beaufort harbor,) is near Cape Hatteras. This 
has been gradually becoming deeper as Ocracoke inlet has latterly 
been becoming more shallow. But while Ocracoke within a few 
years has become shallower by two feet, Hatteras inlet is not yet 
deep enough to offer a passage preferable to the diminished depth 
of Ocracoke. The accumulation of water brought by all the riv- 
ers into the sound, (or all that is not evaporated,) must have a dis- 
charge somewhere into the ocean — and any passage not actually 
needed for that discharge is liable to be filled up by sand, for want 
of sufficient force of the current of water to wash away the en- 
croaching sand. But Core sound, long and shallow, and com- 
paratively narrow as it is, offers a sufficient passage for escape to 
all these waters to the deep inlet of Beaufort harbor, and which is 
not affected by sand driven by waves or \^ inds, it seems proba- 
ble that the same natiu'al causes, continuing to operate, may here- 
after close all the more northern and now navigable inlets across 
the reef. 

Formerly, and to within a recent time, the old Currituck inlet was 
deep enough for vessels elra wing more than ten feet. Mr. B. T. Sim- 
mons, a respectable gentleman residing in Currituck county, in- 
formed me that he had sailed through this inlet in 1821, when it 
afforded througlKnit from ten to twelve feet depth of channel. It 
afterwards was more and more filled by sand, drifted by both wind and 
waves ; and finally, in 1S2S, it was entirely closed by a single vio- 
lent gale. The site of the former water-way, once more than a half 
mile wide, is said to be now diked across, the full breadth of the 
sand reef ; and either very near or on the place, there has been 
raised by the wind a range of high sand hills. 

The more southern and much larger portion of Currituck sound 
is mostly very shallow, and the channels veiy narrow and intricate, 



BEAUFORT HAKBOR, &C. 117 

and also too shallow for sea vessels. Thus, after the closing of the 
old Currituck inlet, the navigation of this great body of water was 
no longer used, e.\cej)t for small boats. A subsecjnently opened 
branch, connected with the Dismal Swamp Canal, has offered the only 
water-way to market that is now in use. The shallow watei's of 
the lower or southern portion of this sound contain numerous and 
extensive islands, mostly of rich yet firm marsh, covered by a lux- 
uriant growth of water grasses. The cattle grazing on these 
marshes have acquired habits suited to their aquatic position — and 
wade and partly swim from one island to another, when separated 
by water of moi'e than half a mile in width. Some tew of the is- 
lands are of high huid. One of these. Crow island, has forty acres 
of high ground, (the highest about eight feet above the water,) 
which was formerly the site of an Indian village, and the ground is 
covered and fertilized by the shells ol oysters, clams, and some of 
sea shell-fish, left by the earliest inhabitants. The late resident 
proprietor, CaptainHatfield, here built a good mansion, and the nat- 
ural situation makes it a beautiful and ronuintic place. Besides 
the surrounding broad water, and the neighboring green marsh is- 
lands, the prospect is further improved by the distant high sand 
hills on the ocean reef, which in tlieir shape, though not in color, 
appear like the approaching traveller's first view of very distant 
mountains. 



1 1. — The deep liarhnr of Bemifort inaccessible from the hach: 
coiintry. New facilities for reaclung it in progress, or pro- 
posed. 

Beaufort harbor is the only deep inlet through the whole reef. — 
This will safely pass ships drawing seventeen feet, and into a secure 
and excellent harbor. But this noble harbor is conneeted with the 
Pamlico and the more northern sounds, only by the long and shal- 
low strait called Core sound. This water affords barely four feet 
depth for navigation, over a bottom (as I was told) of loose and 
shifting sand, and that extending for so long a distance, that the 
deepening the channel, and keeping it open by dredging, would be 



118 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

of enormous cost, and probably even impossible to effect. Thus, 
the noble harbor of Beaufort has continued almost unused, and here- 
tofore useless to tlie great back country, because it was thus cut 
off from the deep navigable waters of the interior. There is now 
in progress of construction a railroad of about ninety miles in 
length, to connect Beaufort harbor with the back country, by join- 
ing the existing Wilmington railroad at Goklsborough. As this 
new branch of railway will pass through a very unproductive coun- 
try (east of Goldsborough) and lead to where (at present) there is 
neither a town, a market, nor ])urchasors, noi- capital to buy with, 
it may well be questioned whether the existing trade can be thus 
diverted from Wilmington. This is already a busy, growing and 
thriving town, and a mart of much trade and enterprise, having 
good navigation of twelve feet draft to the ocean, and to which, the 
approacli by railroad, (long in use,) fi'om the intersection of the two 
roads, (according to the map,) not longer than, if so long as the 
other new branch, which will indeed go to a port of deeper passage 
to the ocean, but which as a market, as yet, is nothing. Without 
pretending to any particular knowledge of the localities and cir- 
cumstances, Ifearthat this new road, will prove as uselessas will the 
Petersburg and Norfolk railway made alongsidethe great James river, 
and having to compete with it ibr freights. And this latter work of (mis- 
called) internal improvement, more than all of many others in Vir- 
ginia, will be a stupendous monument of folly, and waste of money 
to an enormous amount, for returns entirely inadequate to pay the 
expenses to be incurred — and for benefits ludicriously disproportion- 
ed to the cost of tlie work. The North Carolina road may lead to 
a poorer market than Norfolk, or to no mai'ket, at first ; but at 
least, as far as Newbern, it will not have a rival route alongside, of 
incomparably better facilities, and cheaper use. But judging mere- 
ly from the general topographical features, of the land and water, 
as learned from the map, and from verbal I'epoi'ts, it would seem 
that a much better improvement than a railroad from Newbern to 
Beaufort, would have been to dredge the shoals of the Neuse river, 
where required, below Newbern, and to cut a deep canal for a few 
miles only through the intervening very low peninsula, which se- 



CANAL THROUGH THE REEF AT NAGSHEAl). 119 

parates the deep water of the lower Neuse from the deep water of 
the nearest river emptying into Beaufort harhor. It is true that 
long ago there was an abortive attempt to make this important and 
yet very short canal, by uniting the waters of the Harlow and 
Clubfoot creek. This canal was made, and still is barely passable 
b}^ small and light boats — but, for its greater object, has been an 
utter failure. Nevertheless, if the difficulties of deepening the 
Neuse shoals do not forbid the whole scheme being attempted, the 
execution of this sliort canal would be a very easy part of the whole 
improvement, for deep navigation. It is reported tliat the former 
digging of the canal failed because of the reaching of deep quick- 
sands. But even if the in-flow of quicksand had to be guarded 
against by the driving still deeper than its bottom a row of piles, 
in contact, along each side of the whole route of the canal, that 
labor, for but three to five miles, would be an expense not to be 
regarded, in reference to so impoi'tant an object. And after the 
outsides had been so piled, such dredging machines as are now 
operating on the Albemarle and Clujsapeake canal would easily ex- 
ecute and preserve a permanent passage, to any required depth, and 
even if it were through what had been a geneial quicksand bot- 
tom. 

III. — The proposed canal fhrongJt the reef at NagshcaJ. Former 
closing of the reej\ and imrtlcidarhj at Currituck inlet, and the 
results on the interior waters. 

Heretofore and latterly, (or since the closing of Currituck inlet,) 
the great trade and navigation of the sounds, and of the country 
bordering on all their deep rivers, have only had outlets to markets 
either through the shallow and dangerous passage of Ocracoke in- 
let, or the still more shallow and tedious and costly passage 
through the Djsmal Swamp canal to the waters of the Chesa- 
peake. To obtain a much shorter and bettei- outlet, for the trade 
of Albemarle sound, it has long been a favorite scheme, with many, 
to dig a canal through the sand-reef at Nagshead, fi'om the sound 
to the ocean, where a deep passage (the old Roanoke inlet,) once 
was open, in the trust that the flow of water, tluis to be produced, 



120 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

would keep the new passage open. But, inasmuch as a natural chan- 
nel was here once open, far deeper and wider than any that can be 
made by the labor and skill of man, and which has become entirely 
closed, (as have been many smaller passages elsewhere,)it seems safe 
to infer that any artificial and small channel would remain open 
for but a short time. At this time, (May 1856,) the beginning of 
such a canal is now in progress atNagshead, under direction of the 
Federal Government, with an appropriation of $50,000 to be so 
expended. That sum will not go far towards completing the work. 
And when it is suspended, the winds alone will soon fill the exca- 
vation with drifting sand, even without the more powerful aid of 
the waves driven by violent storms.* 

The changes which have occurred to the w^aters of Albemarle 
sound and the neighboring waters, by the opening and closing of 
the inlets, offer for consideration many interesting facts. While 
Currituck inlet was open, half a mile wide and twelve feet deep, 
(within the memory of many now living,) the water of the sounds 
was salt. All kinds of the sea fish of the coast were abundent 
therein. The great extent of the still visible oyster banks show that 
the condition of salt-water must have continued previously forages. 
When the inlet at Currituck was finally and entirely closed in 1828, 
fresh water from the rivers became the only supply — and in about two 
years dme, the waters of both Albemarle and Currituck sounds, be- 
came, and have since remained, fresh generally — and are only sa- 
line, and that very slightly, (or " brackish,") after long continued 
dry weather, and with only the least or usual su^^ply of water from 
the rivers, unaided by the much greater supplies from rain-floods and 
freshes in the Roanoke, especially, and other rivers. 

During the time of gradual change from salt water to its being 
nearly or entirely fresh, the evil effects were of the same character 



•■■■" This filling of the canal, by the wind alone, became, in the progress of th"; work, so 
rapid, that the furth&r excavation was abandoned as hopeless, even before all of the 
money appropriated had been expended and wasted. I heard this in July. 1858, and 
also that the dred-ing machine was very nearly being lost, by being shut in by so much 
of the. newly drifted sand, that if there had been more delays, it would have cost more to 
re-open a passage for its removal than the machine was worth. 



CANAL THROUGH TllK KEEF AT NAGSIIEAD. 131 

md much worse, than such as are usually exhibited on all our tide- 
water rivers, where the fresh water and salt tides meet, and have su- 
premacy alternately over the neighboring marshes. The oysters 
and other sea sliell-fish all died. The water-gi'asses were entirely 
changed in kinds, by the gradual or speedy dying out of all the 
species favored by salt-water. The mosquitoes were naore numer- 
ous than ever known in the same localities, before or since. 
Malarious diseases, also, were much more general, and more ma- 
lignant. 

The rise and fall of the ocean-tide on the coast of North Cattoli'- 
na, is very small. The accurate observations of the V. S. Coast- 
Survey, make the mean tide at Hatteras inlet, only two feet, and 
of spring tides, (showing extremes at full moon,) only 2. 2. Yet, 
when Currituck inlet was open, the tides, low as they are in the 
ocean, rose regularly through all Albemarle sound. Colonel W. 
Byrd, in his account of the running of the " Dividing Line,*' in 
1728, stated that the tide then rose as far as seven or eight miles 
up the Chowan river. (Westover Manuscript, pp. 12^ and 13 of the 
printed work). But now, notwithstanding the existing inlets and 
entrances of ocean water into the sounds, there is no rise of tide in 
Albemarle sound. The actual changes of elevation of the water, 
(in common parlance called " high" or '"low tides,") have no peri- 
odicity, or regularity of return, and are caused mainly by the preva- 
lence of winds, from different quarters — and in less degree, and 
more rarely, by temporary floods in the great rivers, and their sub- 
sequent subsidence. From these causes, there are iiTegular and' 
considerable alternations of height and depression of the water — 
and sometimes, though rarely, as much as three feet or more be- 
tween the extremes of highest and lowest surfaces. But generally 
there is but little variation of height — yet enough to make a nar- 
row and clean sand-beach along the shores of the sounds and the 
broad estuaries of the rivers. 

Even in Pamlico sound, where the more free ingress ©f sean^ 
water keeps all the sound salt, the regular ocean tides do uot 
reach to, or affect the water on the more remote shores of the 



122 SKETCHES OF LOWEIi NOIMH C'AKOLINA, AC. 

main land. Or the tidal movement and changes are no small, 
as to be scarcely appreciable. Near Mattamnskeet Lake, I 
heard some old residents who maintained the existence of regu- 
lar tides in the neighboring salt water of the sound. Yet another 
person, who had lived for thirty years near to the edge of the salt 
water, declared that there was no regular, or appreciable, changes 
of tide. Of course heavy winds from the east, which would cause 
"unusual height of water on the sea-coast, and a proportionable in- 
crease of height of the ocean tides driven into the inlets, will cause 
a considerable but temporary rise of the surface of all Pamlico, and 
also of the more distant sounds. 

The damming (by sand-drift) of the former inlets, by preventing 
the former free egress of the interior waters, must have served to 
raise the ordinary height of Albemarle sound higher than the level 
of the former tide at high flood — or say something more than two 
feet above tide-water. The marshes, about the junction of the 
Chowan and the Roanoke with the sound, and elsewhere, offer evi- 
dence of this permanently, yet recent increased height of the wa- 
ter, in their very low level, compared to the water, and to other 
tide marshes. 

The broad waters of the sounds, are usually smooth, and offer 
very striking and beautiful prospects. The mere statements of dis- 
tances made above would scarcely impress a reader with the extent 
of space offered to the eye. At Currituck Court House (on Curri- 
tuck sound,) and also at Stevenson's Point, the extremity of Du- 
rant's neck, in Perquimans county, land could be seen only direct- 
ly across the sounds. Looking both above and below, at both 
places, the sight stretched to a horizon of water only, as when fai" 
out on the ocean. And when sailing on the broader Pamlico 
sound, it was seldom that land was visible, except on the nearest 
side. 

IV. — The sand-reef considered as land or soil, and (he several kinds 
thereof. The i^land^ of the sounds. 

So far the sand-reef has been referred to merelv as the barrier 



THE SAND-ItEKF, &C. ] 23 

tliat shuts out the ocean, and as in that connection with the interior 
waters. It will now bo considered more fully, as a peculiar kind 
and lormatioii of land, and in its other relations. 

The sand-reef, (commonly termed, by residents on the main-land 
the " banks" or tlie " beach,") stretches along the whole sea-coait 
of Nortli (Carolina for about three hundred miles, and with an ex- 
tension into Virginia. The few important breachesor inlets north of 
Beaufort harbor have been mentioned. There is not one of them 
navigable north of Ocracoke inlet, except the one newly opened, 
and still enlarging near Cape Hatteras. One other, Oregon inlet, 
has been passed through only by a small steamer of very shallow 
draft. The few still smaller breaches, scarcely need being describ- 
ed, as some such are opened for a time, and others closed, by al- 
most every heavy gale of wind, causing the highest and most vio- 
lent billows of the ocean to break across the reef. The long and 
mostly continuous sand-reef usually varies in width from a mile to 
as little as half a mile. In a few places, and for short distance* 
only, it widens to two and three miles, and more. 

The portion of the reef that extends from Ocra'^oke inlet to 
Beaufort harbor, until recently, was one continuous island, of some 
fifty miles in length, and of very regular general width, of less than 
three-quarters of a mile. New breaches are frequently made across 
the narrower and lower parts of the reef, by the ocean waves driven 
across by violent stomis — and which breaches are usually soon 
closed again. One such vi^as not long since opened through this 
before continuous island, and which is still increasing in depth, though 
not yet to more than two or three feet. It is ten miles south of 
Ocracoke inlet, and is known as Whalebone inlet. The small vil- 
lage of Portsmouth is near Ocracoke, on a wider part of this smaller 
island. The land there is one and a-half miles wide. Except this 
place, and a similar but smaller enlargement of the reef near Cape 
Lookout (where, about the light-house, there are a few inhabitants,) 
there are no human residents, and no cultivation. This is the case, 
without any exception, for thirty miles south of Whalebone inlet. 
The village of Portsmouth owes its existence to the fact of its ad- 
joining the nearest water of Pamlico sound, where vessels must an- 



324 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAEOLTNA, &C. 

chor and wait for fair winds aiid tides to cross the shallow and dan- 
gerous bar of Ocracoke inlet — and after passing outwiard, as usual 
but partly laden, to wait to receive the remainder of the cargo, 
carried across the bar by lighters. The occupations of the whole 
resident population of Portsmouth are connected with the vessels 
which have to wait here. Pilots, and sailors, or owners of vessels, 
make up the greater number of the heads of families and adult 
jyiales — and the remainder are the few, who as shopkeepers, &c.,are 
necessary to minister to the w^ants of the others. If Ocracoke inlet 
should be closed by sand, (which is noimprobable event,) the village 
of Portsmouth would disappear — or, (like Nagshead) remain only 
for its other use, as a summer retreat for transient visitors, sought 
for health and sea-bathing. Another such settlement or village, 
and supported in like manner, is at Ocracoke, north of the in- 
let. 

The whole reef consists of several distinct kinds and characters of 
earth or soil. 

1st. — The ocean beach proper, or shore, or the space above low- 
water mark, and covered by every ordinary flood tide. This, as in 
all other cases along a low^ and sandy coast, is a very gradual slope, 
of beautifully smooth and firm sand. Here, (near Portsmouth,) sea- 
shells are brought up but rarely, and in small number; and these are 
soon driven by the violence of the waves upon the lower and broad 
sand-flat in the rear. For this reason, the beach, daily lashed by 
the waves, is of pure and homogeneous sand, rarely dotted by a 
shell, or a bunch of dead sea-grass, left by the preceding tide. As 
examined through a magnifying lens, (near Ocracoke inlet) the sand 
is almost entirely silicious, with scarcely any particles of shells in- 
termixed, and the grains various in size, and not so fine as I had 
supposed in advance.* 



* The scarcity of sliell-fi.«h, and in less degree, of the dead shells, on this beach, vtould 
\n4icate that the water, for a considerable distance out, is very shallow, and agitated to 
the bottom — botl of which conditions are unfavorable to the existence of all shell-fish 
that do not burrow and shelter themselves in the sand, or bottom. I saw no living shell- 
fish brought up from its proper place, to the beach, by force of the waves — nor even any 
shell, ao brought, that had not bced long empty. The only such animal seen was a small 



THE SAND-REEF, &C. 125 

2d. — In the rear of the firm sea-shore, and lower than its liighest 
ridge, or crest line, (above oi-dinary liigh-tide mark,) lies what 1 
will distinguish as the sand-fiat. This, opposite Portsmouth, is 
nearly a mile broad, and nearly gf nniform plane surface, and else- 
where is of various less widths, in proportion as it occupies less of 
the general surface, or is less in proportion to the other kinds of 
ground. The flat very gradually descends, (impei'ceptibly, when 
there is no water thereon, to indicate differences of level) from its 
junction with the liighest I'idgo of t;he shore, and becomes lower 
and lower, until nearly reaching the range of sand-hills — or, if these 
be wanting, either the higher marshy or firm land. On the sand- 
flat, eveiy floating matter, and every thing too heavy for the waves 
to drive forward, is cari'ied and left. Thus, the old sea shells and 
their fragments are all spread over this space ; and consequently, 
however slowly added to, tliey are numerous here. In every storm, 
the waves which rise highest on the shore, pass, in part, over the 
ridge or highest beach line; and the water thence flows and spreads, 
in a very shallow sheet, ovei' the whole of this lower flat. To ob- 
serve the effects of high waves, I rode to the beach, late on the rise 
of tide, when a strong wind, setting on shore, brought in high bil- 
lows, which broke n])on, and frequently passed over the highest 
ridge of the beach. When returning to the village, I passed across 
the sand-flat covei'ed for three quarters of a mile by water received 
thus from the ocean, and then varying from one to three inches in 
depth. On the preceding day I had walked across the same flat, 
and then found it perfectly free from water and quite dry. 

3d. — Whenever this sand-flat is dry at its surface, the dry and 
loose sand, (the texture being very open and soft,) is either lifted or 
rolled by strong v;inds — and, if driven landward, when reaching 
higher ground, or the growth on the marsh, or any other obstruc- 
tions, the grains of sand there are stopped, and accumulate in low 



Donax, which burrows and conceals itself in the sand, a little beneath its surface, where 
the low beach was alternately covered and left bare by every advancing and retreating 
wave. These little animals, in variously tinted and wedge-shaped bivalve shells, are nu- 
merous , and though many are washed out of the sand by the passage of every wave, 
they so quickly again bury and conceal themselves that they would escape being seen by 
any but a close observer. 



126 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, A,C. 

ridges or mounds — or, where circnmstances are favorable, begin to 
form ranges of sand-hills, which are of all heights not exceeding 
abont one hundred feet. The grains of fine sand, which form these 
high hills, are so easily moved an.d shifted by high winds, that every 
exposed portion of the surface may be said to l)e in movement — 
and gradually the entire hill is thus moved land- ward. And the 
grains of sand as driven by the prevailing high winds, from the 
sea. are mostly carried up the hill, until passing over the crest of 
the hill, they are sheltered on the opposite slope, and remain to be 
covered by other succeeding grains, and until again left bare, by 
the removal of the hill, and subject again to be blov/n onward. 
In this manner, on the bi'oader sea-islands of Virginia, the cultiva- 
ted ground, and even the habitations, have been gradually covered 
and lost under such slowly moving hills of loose sand. The broad 
sand-flat near Ocracoke, and the high sand mounds of latest forma- 
tion, are bare of all vegetation, and entirely barren. This would 
be so, from the salt impregnation, if nothing else. But, in the 
course of time, when the sand has attained a few feet of elevation 
above ordinary high tides, stunted shrubs begin to grow, and parti- 
ally bind and cover the before naked and loose sand. The lirst 
trees to spring are live-oaks. And these, while low, are kept so 
closely browzed by grazing animals, that they appear more like box 
bushes, kept artificially and closely trimmed in grotesque shapes, 
than anything like the natural and majestic growth of this tree, as 
seen in lower South Carolina. These moderate accumulations of 
sand, but where no high sand-hills have been raised, in longer time, 
make a wretchedly poor and very sandy soil, on which, where it is 
of sufficient height and extent, some woi-thless loblolly pines ( j?. 
tmda^) can grow, and where the iidiabitau^'s, (if any) may improve 
for, and cultivate some few garden vegetables. No grain, or other 
field culture is attempted south of Ocracoke inlet. 

4th. — Another kind of land is marsh, subject either daily, or 
otherwise at much longer intervals, to be covered by the flood tides 
of the ocean. This marsh is wet, soft, and more or less miry on the 
surface — but, in general, is firm enough to bear well the grazing 
animals. The course salt-water grasses and weeds, which cover 
these marshes, serve to supply all the food, and for both winter and 
summeK, for the live-stock living on the reef. 



THE SAND-REEF, &C- 127 

From the iiortlicrii cxti-emity, in V^ii-g-iniii, (where united willi 
the main-land at the head of Cnrrituck sonnd,) to Nagshead, op- 
poiirc'I^Roanokc ishmd, the ocean sand reef generally varies from 
half a mile to two miles in width. Its surface is in some parts of 
blowing sand, either low or jn siind-hills, and in others, of sw^amp, 
marsh. About five miles below Long island, (in Cnrrituck sound, 
and in Virginia.) on the reef begins the portion called the " Wash 
Woods," which extends farther south some six mi^es, and is border- 
ed, next to the ocean, by high sand-hills, and on the sound side by 
large marshes. In the central " woods" part some twenty families 
reside, who gain their living in part by agi'icnlture. They cultivate 
small patches of Indian corn and sweet potatoes. For the latter, 
the soil is peculiarly well adapted, ami they can be there raised in 
any quantities. Upon these products, and with fowling and fishing 
these inhabitants subsist. The large marshes are mostly owned by 
persons who reside on the maindand. The proprietors drive their 
cattle and sheep to these marshes, where they become fat enough 
for sale. Bullocks thus fattened will cfuiimand from twen- 
ty to thirty dollars a piece. Sheep are there kept for their 
wool. 

In the sound wdiicli separates this part of the ocean reef from the 
main-land, there is a chain of islands — Long Island Little Island, 
Ragged Island, Cedar Island and Knott's Island, of which last the 
north-end is in Virginia. The high or firm land of these islands is 
a rich loam, on a sub-soil of red clay and sand ; and still lower is a 
bed of white sand in which (on Long Island) the well-water is as 
good as any usually obtained in lower Virginia.* 

South of Knott's Island, (which is of considerable extent, is cul- 
tivated, andhas many inhabitants,) and the little Crow island, before 
described, which lies near the formei', there is no grain or field cul- 
ture on the reef, as far as to opposite Powell's Point, the southern 
extremity of Currituck county and the sound. There, the sand- 
reef is penetrated by Guinguy's creek, running nearly parallel with 
the ocean-beach and about a mile distant, and which makes a secure 



* For these factS; and others, in regard to these localities in Virginia. I am indebted 
lo the Ri'T. Edgar Burroughs, proprietor and resident of Long Island. 



128 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, <kC. 

and deep harbor for sea vessels. The land between the creek and 
the sound is a peninsula of the ordinary sand-reef formation and 
soil. This and the adjacent land reaching to the ocean is owned by Mr. 

Gallop, who is a cultivator of more surface than all the other 

proprietors put together, south of Knott's island. Though his land 
is of the usual loose blowing sand, it produces crops of 2,000 to 
2,500 bushels of corn. Most of tlie ordinary culinary vegetables 
grow well on the best of these sandy soils, and there are abundant 
resources of manure, in the old Indian banksof shells, and immense 
quantities offish caug'.itin the seines, and worthless for other purpo- 
ses, to raake a rich material for compost manure. There is, howev- 
er, as yet, no attention paid to tliese resources for increasing fertil- 
ity. The greatest evil and obstruction to profitable cultivation here, 
is the blowing away of the sandy soil, where the surface is most ex- 
posed to the violent winds, and the spreading or heaping it over 
other ground. A part of Mr. Gallop's land, which he formerly 
knew when under good forest grovvtli, since he has clearedtind cul- 
tivated it, has been blown off to depths varying from two to five 
feet. This has exposed several considerar)le mounds of old oyster 
shells, formerly accumulated near the Indian huts, which were cov- 
ered and entirely hidden by the soil when the forest was first 
cleared off. Thus it is manifest that the sand had been raised there 
after the time when the shells had been deposited ; and so these 
different elevations of the surface are shown to have existed at dif- 
ferent times. The sand removed from this space (of some six or 
eight acres) is deposited thickly as far as some hundreds of yards 
distant. Wherever there is any obstacle on thesui'face, the sand is there 
accumulated highest. The sand is thus heaped up on each side of 
the fences, until they have too little elevation above the sand, to 
serve their purpose. And if it is necessary to keep a fence on tlie 
same line, it will in tim? be necessary to erect a second fence on the 
sand heaped over the first. However, it is only in particular places 
that the sand is thus removed or accumulated by winds. Across 
the creek from this peninsula, (on which Mr. Gallop resides, with a 
large family,) the reef proper is about a mile wide. In crossing it, 
I was surprised to find at first so good and large forest growth on 
what was evidently a soil formed originally by the sand blown by 



THE SAND-BEEF, JtC. 129 

the wind. The land is high, and the surface very broken and irreg- 
ular, so as to be compared in shape to a miniature resemblance of 
a mountainous country. The only trees of considerable size were 
lohlolly pines, the only species seen in all this sandy land, formed of 
tributes from the ocean. 

There were oaks and other trees of smaller size, and healthy 
growth. I was informed that live-oaks, large enough for ship tim- 
ber had been formerly cut down here, for that use. Of this wooded 
and more ancient sand-hill formation consists all of the reef border- 
ing here on the sound. But about midway to the present beach, 
the surface changes suddenly to the more recent and naked soil, 
forming still higher hills, though not the highest of all the reef. 
These hills are of loose sand, generally fine, but in some parts 
coai-se, and with still larger fragments of shells, brought to such high 
elevations as to indicate prodigious power of the winds that brought 
them to such heights. There is rarely seen so much of vegetable 
growth as a stunted weed on this sand — and in one lower basin only 
enough of vegetation lives to show a slight tint of green. But for- 
merly this present waste was covered by a forest, in part of cedars, 
and many of them of large sizes, of which the dead remains are 
still standing or lying over the surface. The trees must have been 
killed by being covered by new accumulations of sand, which in 
later time was blown farther inland, -and so again left exposed such 
trees as remained rotted during the long interval since they were 
buried. 

On Hog Island, on the Atlantic, in Yirginia, the cedars which 
have thus been uncovered, were so numerous as to be of much val- 
ue, as timber for sale in distant markets. 

Roanoke island, (which, however, I did nOt 866, because of 
accidental delays in the water trip,) is much the most important 
and interesting of all these islands. It contains several thousand 
acres of dry land. Though of the usual sandy soil, the land of 
this island is very productive, and especially in potatoes and gar- 
den vegetables. And on all these lands, the climate is so mild, 
that all vegetables are earlier in maturing than on the main land 
opposite and nearest. This and the other conditions will make 

17 



130 SKETCHES OF LOWER XOliTH CAROLINA, XC. 

these lands especially suitable for the " trucking business/' or 
raisin o- potatoes and other vegetables for the great northern cities. 
"When the Albemarle and Chesapeake canal shall be finished, 
there will not only be rapid steam navigation to Norfolk, but the 
same mode of conveyance will serve to bring thence the numer- 
ous hands for getting the crops, which extra and temporary sup- 
ply of laborers is indispensable for the business. 

V. — Grazing and rearing of Uve-stocl:. The wild horses, their quali- 
ties and habits — and, the " horse-pennings." 

Except at and near Portsmouth, and where actual residents 
have possession, there is no separate private property in lands, on 
this reef, from Ocracoke to Beaufort harbor. But though there 
are no land-marks, or means for distinguishing separate proper- 
ties, every portion of the reef is claimed in some manner, as pri- 
vate property, though held in common use. If belonging to one 
owner, the unsettled land would be valuable, for the peculiar mode 
of stock:-raising in use here. But under the existing undefined 
and undefinable common rights, the land is of no more value to 
one of the joint-owners, or claimants, than to any other person 
who may choose to place breeding stock on the reef 

There are cattle and sheep on the marshes of this portion of the 
reef, obtainirg a poor subsistance indeed, but without any cost or 
care of their owners. On the other hand, the capital and profits 
are at much risk, as any lawless depredator can, insecurity, shoot 
*nd carry oflTany number of these animals. But horses cannot 
be used for food, (or are not — ) and cannot be caught and removed 
by thieves — and, therefore, the rearing of horses is a very profit- 
able investment for the small amount of capital required for the 
business. There are some hundreds of horses, of the dwarfish 
native breed, on this part of the reef between Portsmouth and 
Beaufort harbor— ranging at large, and wild, (or untamed,) and 
continuing the race without any care of their numerous proprie- 
tors. Many years ago I had first heard of similar wild horses on 
some of the larger sea-islands of Virginia, and wrote and pub- 
]jih«<l (inth© ** Farmer's Register,") some account of them. But 



WILD HORSES, THEIR HABITS, IcC. IM 

I had supposed that the stock, (in the wild state) had ceased 
to exist there — and did not suspect that wild horses, and in 
much greater number, still were on the narrow sand-reef of North 
Carolina. 

In applying the term loild to these horses, it is not meant that 
they are as much so as deer or wolves, or as the herds of horses, 
wild tor many generations on the great grassy plains of South 
America or Texas. A man may approach these, within gunshot 
distance without difficulty. But he could not get much nearer, 
without alarming the herd, and causing them to tlee for safety to 
the marshes, or across water, (to which they take very freely,) or to 
more remote distance on the sands. Twice a year, for all the 
horses on each united portion of the reef, (or so much as is un- 
broken by inlets too wide for the horses to swim across,) tJiere is a 
general " horse-penning," to secure, and brand with the owner's 
marks, all the young colts. The tirst of these operations is in May, 
and the second in July, late enough for the previons birth of all 
the colts that come after the penning in May. If there was only 
one penning, and that one late enough for the latest births to 
have occurred, the earliest colts would be weaned, or otherwise 
could not be distinguished, as when much younger, by their being 
always close to their respective mothers, and so to have their own- 
ership readily determined. 

The " horse-pennings" are much attended, and are very inter- 
esting festivals for all the residents of the neighboring main-land. 
There are few adults, residing within a day's sailing of the horse- 
pen, that have not attended one or more of these exciting scenes. 
A strong enclosure, called the horse-peU; is made at a narrow 
part of the reef, and suitable in other respects for the purpose — ■ 
with a connected strong fence, stretching quite across the reef. 
All of the many proprietors of the horses, and with many assist- 
ants, drive (in deer-hunters' phrase,) from the remote extremities 
of the reef, and easily bring, and then encircle, all the horses to 
the fence and near to the pen. 

There the drivers are reinforced by hundreds of volunteers 
from among the visitors and amateurs, and the circle is narrowed 
until all the horses are forced into the pen, where any of them 



13* SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, JtC^ 

may be caught and confined. Then the young colts, distinguish- 
«d by being with their mothers, are marked by their owner's 
brand. All of the many persons who came to buy horses, and 
the proprietors who wish to capture and remove any for use, or 
subsequent sale, then make their selections. After the price is 
fixed, each selected animal is caught and haltered, and immedi- 
ately subjected to a rider. This is not generally very difficult — 
or the difficulties und the consequent accidents and mishaps to 
the riders are only sufficient to increase the interest and fun of 
the scene, and the pleasure and triumph of the actors. After the 
captured horse has been thrown, and sufficiently choked by the 
halter, he is suffered to rise, mounted by some bold and ex- 
perienced rider and breaker, and forced into a neighboring creek, 
with a bottom of mud, stiff and deep enough to fatigue the horse, 
and to render him incapable of making more use of his feet thao. 
to struggle to avoid sinking too deep into the mire. Under these 
circumstances, he soon yields to his rider — and rarely afterwanls 
does one resist. But there are other subsequent and greater dif- 
ficulties in the domesticating these animals. They have previ- 
ously fed entirely on the coarse salt grasses of the marshes, and 
always afterwards prefer that food, if attainable. When removed 
to the main land, away from the salt marshes, many die before 
learning to eat grain, or other strange provender. Others injure^ 
and some kill themselves, in struggling, and in vain efforts to 
break through the stables or enclosures in which thc}^ are subse- 
quently confined. All the horses in use on the reef, and on many 
of the nearest farms on the main-land, are of these previously 
wild "banks' ponies." And when having access to their former 
food on the salt marshes, they seek and prefer it, and will eat very- 
little of any other and better food. 

These horses are all of small size, with rough and shaggy coats, 
and long manes. They are generally ugly. Their hoofs, in 
many cases, grow to unusual lengths. They are capable of great 
endurance of labor and hardship, and live so roughly, that any 
others, from abroad, seldom live a year on such food and under 
such great exposure. The race, of course, was originally derived 
from a superior kind or breed of stock ; but long acclima- 



GEOLOGICAL POSITION OF THE SAND-REEF, AC. 133 

tion, and subjection for many generations to this peculiar mode 
of living, has fixed on the breed the peculiar characteristics 
of form, size, and qualities, which distinguish the " banks' po- 
nies." It is thought that the present stock has suffered deterio- 
ration by the long continued breeding witliout change of blood. 
Yet this evil might be easily avoided, by sometimes exchanging 
a few males from different separated parts of the whole coast reef. 
It would be the reverse of improvement to introduce horses of more 
noble race, and less fitted to endure the great hardships of this 
locality. Such horses, or any raised in other localities, if turned 
loose here, would scarcely live through either the plague of blood- 
sucking insects of the first summer, or the severe privations of the 
first winter. 

On the whole reef, there are no springs ; but there are many 
small tide-water creeks, passing through and having their heads 
in marshes, from which their sources ooze out. Their supply must 
be from the over-flowing sea-water. I could not learn, and do 
not suppose, that these waters, even at their highest sources, are 
ever fresh. Water that is fresh, but badlj' flavored, may be found 
any wdiere, (even on the sea-beach,) by digging from two to six feet 
deep. The wild horses supply their want of fresh water by pawing 
awa}^ the sand deep enough to reach the fresb-w^ater, which oozes 
into the excavation, and which reservoir serves for this use while 
it remains open. 

VI. — Sujiposed Geological 'position of the sand-reef, and the sounds. 
Ancient sand-hills serving to form barren soils on the main- 
land. 

To these persons who are acquainted with the peculiarities of 
the North Carolina coast only by maps, and general report, the 
existence and continuance of the long, low, and narrow sand-reef 
would seem an inexplicable mystery. In many narrow places, 
every great storm drives the highest billows across the barrier of 
loose sand. In numerous places, deep breaches have been forced 
through, and subsequently again closed. In other cases, such 
breaches have so increased as to become navigable inlets, and are 



134 SKETCHES OP LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

still becoming more enlarged, in depth and width. But still, as 
new openings are thus begun, or are enlai-ged, the older are clos- 
ing. And, taken altogether, from the time when the first vessels 
from Europe entered Albemarle Sound through the then open 
and broad Roanoke inlet, to this day — and in all the space of reef 
from Beaufort harbor to within Princess Anne conntv, Virjyinia, 
there has been a general and progressive diminution of the jDassage- 
ways for water through the whole long line of reef With all the 
fluctuations, and temporary changes of these openings, there 
must, and always will be, enough in space, to permit the dis- 
charge into the ocean of the water of the rivers and sounds, with- 
out raising the surface level of the latter anywhere, much higher 
than the height of flood-tide in the ocean. But no more openings 
are necessary And if more or deeper openings were made 
by the labors of man, for the purpose of navigation, they would 
be soon filled again by the opposing and far more powerful 
operations of nature. 

If a stranger only knew of the present existence of the long and 
frail barrier of loose sand, and nothing of its long and victorious 
resistance to the ingress, and most violent assaults of the ocean, 
lie would suppose that it would be swept away, and forever, by 
the first storm waves that rose higher than the ocean beach. But 
this occurs frequently, even by the force of moderate winds, and 
yet no such effects is even partially produced. When seeing the 
operation of high-running waves, over-topping the highest ridge 
of the shore, and the excess of water thence flowing in shallow 
streams over the low^er sand-flat in the rear, it seems no longer 
strange that the shore siiould remain unbroken. Indeed, if there 
were no reef existing, but its site iind foundation were a long 
shoal, of miles in breath, of but a few feet below the surface of 
the ocean, and composed of loose sand, it would seem to an ob- 
server of the present action of the waves, that it would raise such 
a reef as now exists, from the bottom sand of the supposed ex- 
treme shoal. And just so this reef was probably originally form- 
ed and raised to its present dimensions. The waves of the sea 
are most generally driven by the winds towards the land ; and 
with incomparably greater violence and power, than any can bo 



POSITION OF THE SAND-REEF, A.C. 1-35 

driven by winds in the direction from tlie shore. Of course then, 
the far greater sand-moving power of the waves is exerted in the 
direction from the ocean, and towards the land. The ocean 
waves, when driven violently landward, (as is most usuiil in 
storms, and occuis w^itli even moderate winds,) over a very wide 
and shoal bottom of loose sand, must operate 1o propel the upper 
layer of the sand in the direction towards the land. With the 
beginning of this natnral operation, there would be raised, from 
the outer or sea-ward side of the sand shoal, a low ridge, (or it 
may be called a wave,) of loose sand-^which would be continual- 
ly added to by more sand brought in the same manner, and thus 
the ridge raised higher and higher, and spread broader and broad- 
er, as it was wholly and slowly moved tow^ards the land. In a 
lone: time, and after thus having been moved for miles from the 
outer side of the shoal, the highest part of the ridge would be 
raised above the level of ordinary high-tide. Then, the waves 
rising and breaking upon the outer slope (then became a tide- 
beach, as now,) would deposit thereon the sand still brought along 
regularly from the outer parts of the shoal. And still higher 
waves, in violent storms, would sweep from this accumulation, or 
ridge more or less of the sand into the sheltered and stiller water 
behind the reef, and thus add continually to its height and breadth, 
so long as the outer shoal was near enough to the surface, and its 
sand loose enough, to readily supply new material for increasing 
the reef. Thus was the reef at first formed, and thus, by the ex- 
tension of the reef barrier, the present waters of the sound were 
sep'irated from the ocean. 

The action and effect of the waves, or ocean-water moving vio- 
lently towards the land, over high-lying and loose sand, are simi- 
lar in the manner of operati'. n to the action and efliect of winds 
on dry sand. The latter operation we may see at any time on the 
sand- reef— not only in the moving of sand in enormous quanti- 
ties, but alsoelevatino; it into high sand hills. The moving ocean 
water is as powerful an agent, operating in like manner, and upon 
a surface of as loose, though water-covered sand. And as the 
acting forces operate alike, so are the effects, in moving and rais- 
injf the sand. But the water cannot raise the traiisported sand 



136 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

higher than the greatest height of the water itself — which is the 
limit of elevation by the force of water alone. After this the 
power of wind begins to operate, and without any such limit of 
height. Therefore the sand-hills are raised to heights overtop- 
ping all other ground for many miles distant, on the adjacent 
main land. And these sand hills, when on the mainland, and a 
low coast, are gradually moved far into the interior, and, either 
still as high hills, or otherwise spread into plains, cover large 
spaces with sterile and almost naked sands. There are many such 
examples, of land thus derived from the bottom of the ocean, in 
both lower South and North Carolina. 

There is another interesting question for consideration, which so 
far has been designedly left untouched — as to what was the origin, 
or manner of formation of the great basins, called sounds, enclosed 
between the sand- reef and the main land. If these waters were now 
throughout very shallow, it might be inferred that the bottom was 
part of the broadly extended original shoal, stretching out from the 
main land many miles into the ocean, and on the outer part of 
which, (as argued and described above,) the present sand-reef had 
been raised by the ocean waves. In that way, to account for the 
origin of the reef, would at the same time serve to explain the ori- 
gin of the sounds. But this explanation is not sufficient for some of 
the most interesting of the facts. Pamlico and Albemarle sounds 
are now much deeper than we can suppose the outer shoal was, on 
which the reef was raised. Albemarle sound is generally eighteen 
feet deep from near Roanoke Island up as high as Bluff Point, in 
Chowan county, and twenty feet thence to the head of the sound, 
or mouth of the Roanoke river. The lower and broader waters of 
nearly all the rivers emptying into these two greater sounds, are 
still deeper than the waters of the sounds. Further, the bottoms of 
these rivers, and also of the sounds, not very distant from their 
shores, to more than twenty feet depth, are set with numerous 
stumps of large trees, which are firmly rooted, and evidently in the 
earth where they originally grew. These several facts, and especi- 
ally the last, go to show that the land in all this space, was original- 
ly above the water, and has subsided, (by some ancient convuleion 
of the earth,) to its present low level. And thus, if the sounds 



DISMAL SWAMP CANAL, &C. 137 

were dyked in and separated from the ocean by the rising of the 
ocean sand-reef, tliey owe their depth to the subsidence of the land 
forming their bottoms. And this subsidence was probably still 
earlier than the formation of the reef, and was the first cause of the 
latter operation. For the geological operation of subsidence of one 
portion of the surface of the earth, is often, if not generally, accom- 
panied by equal upheaval of surface elsewhere. And it is proba- 
ble, when the long and irregular surface of the present sounds, and 
their connected estuaries, subsided, that, by a different and compen- 
sating movement of the same great convulsion, the outer ocean bot- 
tom was upheaved so as to be made shoal, and thereby to afford 
means for the waves subsequently to raise the sand-reef thereon, 
above the surface of the ocean. 

VII. — Art'ijicial outlet from the navigation of the sounds through 
the Dismal Swamp canal. Imj^rovcment to health by raising the water 
level of Deep- Creek. 

Besides the passage through Ocracoke inlet, now reduced to six 
feet draft of vessels — and the long Core sound to Beaufort, through 
which only vessels of four feet draft can pass — the only other and 
safest and best outlet for the great commerce of the sounds is 
through the Dismal Swamp canal — though this affords passage to 
vessels of but five feet draft. This canal is twenty-two miles in 
length, as excavated, and empties at its northern end into Deep 
Creek, a branch of Elizabeth river, and at its south end, into the 
upper part (where deep, but very narrow and crooked,) of the Pas- 
quotank river, which discharges into Albemarle sound. Norfolk 
and Portsmouth in Virginia, and Elizabeth City in North Carolina, 
are the nearest towns on these different waters, thus connected by 
this artificial navigation. The much greater length of the canal 
passes through the Dismal Swamp — and its w^ater is supplied (at 
the summit level,) by a small canal, from Lake Drummond, in the 
central part of the great Dismal Swamp. 

The canal, from its northern section, descends by locks of sixteen 
feet, into the water of Deep Creek, which was generally navigable, 
but sometimes was deficient of the required depth. In latter years, 

18 



138 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

to avoid the occasional detention of vessels by low tides in Deep 
Creek, the upper water of that stream has been raised by a dam, Avitli 
a lock emptying below, where the tide water is always deep enough. 
This raising of the water above the dam (permanently to four feet 
above low tide,) lias been not only a great benefit to navigation, but 
also in another important and unexpected matter, the health of the 
adjacent village, and the vicinity. Previous to this work, it was 
generally feared that the proposed damming up and raising of the 
water, and flooding the bordering marshes and other low land, 
would increase the previous great sickness of the place. And on 
this score, as well as for the land covered by the water, claims were 
made for remuneration, and suits at law for damages were about to 
be instituted. But the effect has been entirely opposite — and the 
facts well deserve consideration in regard to the question of means 
for better securing health in malarious localities. Since the depth 
and breadth of Deep Creek, (before of the irregular and varying 
changes made by the tide,) have both been so much increased, and 
kept at nearly the same mark, the place has become unquestiona- 
bly and far more healthy than before. This effect, however unex- 
pected by the residents, ought to have been anticipated, upon sound 
reasoning. The upper waters which supply Deep Creek are fresh, 
and are deeply impregnated, and darkly tinted, by vegetable extract, 
as are all the waters tliat flow through the Dismal, or other great 
swamps. The salt flood tides coming up from Elizabeth river, were 
intermixed with, or interchanged for freshwater — and the bordering 
marshes were alternately covered and soaked with salt and fresh 
water. AVhatever may be the cause, such changes and interming- 
lings of fresh and salt waters, in summer weather, always render 
the locality sickly. Now, by the damming up of the river, its raised 
water is alM'ays fresh, is nearly of uniform level at all times, and has 
clean, firm, and mostly steep banks and margins. Tlie water is not 
stagnant, like mill-ponds fed by feeble or failing streams, but is 
supplied from abundant sources, and is frequently changed. And 
where discharged, by the lock, and waste outlets, into tide-water, 
the mixture of fresh and salt-water is efi'ected at once, and over a 
bottom always deeply covered by water. These circumstances 
must greatly lessen, if not entirely prevent any evil efl'ects resulting 
from the mixture. 



DISMAL SWAMP CANAL, &G. 139 

The present raised surface of Deep Creek, (which may now be 
considered as an extension of the canal,) and which is five feet 
above low tide mark, is eleven feet below the surface of the north- 
ern level of the canal, which extends nine and a-half miles to the 
middle and summit-level. The water of this middle section is but 
four and a half feet higher than that of the adjoining northern section. 
From the summit level (nine miles long,) the canal descends 
bj a lock of seven and a-half feet, to the south level of three miles 
long, and from that, by thirteen feet lockage to the upper naviga- 
ble water of Pasquotank river. The ascending lockage from Eliza- 
beth river (low tide-water) to the summit level, is twenty-one and 
a-half feet — and the descending, to Pasquotank, twenty and a-half 
feet. The whole length of the canal, within the outer locks, amounts 
to twenty-four and one-fourth miles. It would at first strike every ob- 
server that it was a great error of construction, as it is certainly 
a permanent and great addition to the difficulty and cost of naviga- 
tion, that this middle section was not sunk four and a-half feet deep- 
er, so as to dispense with twice that amount of lockage, at least, if 
not further to have level water from one end to tlie other of the ex- 
cavated portion of the canal. It had been at first designed to thus 
sink the middle section. But the labor of excavating through a 
close and deep mat of living juniper stumps and roots, and the 
still lower stumps and roots and prostrate trunks of junipers of older 
growth, remaining unrotted beneath the earth — and the excavation 
to be made in the softest of mire, or under water — presented diffi- 
culties so enormous, that it was preferred to raise the level of the 
canal by embankments, and with two additional locks, to the pre- 
sent summit level. There are seven locks in all. The summit level 
of the canal is suj^plied with water from Lake Drummond, by a 
feeder of three miles in length, having three feet fall from the wa- 
ter of the lake to that of the summit level of the canal. Thus the 
height of the surface of lake Drummond above Elizabeth river at 
ordinary low water, is equal to twenty-four and a-half feet. 



140 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

VIII. — Tlie Albemarle and ChesapcaTce ship canal in progress 
of construction, and its great importance to agricidtural and, com- 
mercial interests. 

Many years ago, in the publication of some notes of an early 
visit to part of lower I^ortli Carolina, I urged, as the greatest of im- 
provements for that State, a ship canal, to be dug on a level, from the 
waters of Albemarle sound to those of the Chesapeake — to give 
free egress and passage, to any distant marts of vessels of as deep 
draft as could well navigate the sounds of North Carolina. I then 
looked only to the importance and incalculable value, of the great 
object — but knew nothing of the facilities -^nd means, or the diffi- 
culties to be found in the topography of the intervening country. 
Such an improvement is now in the progress of execution — and 
when completed, it will oiier to the commercial and agricultural in- 
terests of North Carolina the greatest boon that can be derived 
from any aid to facilities for transportation. 

The " Albemarle and Chesapeake Ship Canal," had not been 
long in progress, when (in May, 1856,) I visited the three different 
places in which the excavating machines were at work. The en- 
tire length of digging, in two different places, w^ill be but fourteen 
miles, all through very low and level ground. The main operation 
will be a straight cut from deep water in North Landing, (or Co- 
honk) river, (emptying into Currituck sound,) to deep and tide wa- 
ter at Great Bridge on the principal branch of Elizabeth river. 
This part of the canal will be level, eight miles long, and without a 
lock, except one at the junction of the level water (flowing back 
from Currituck sound) with the tide-water at Great Bridge — and 
which lock is necessary merely to regulate the difference between 
the usually uniform level of the Currituck water, and the changea- 
ble height of the tide- water of the Chesapeake. Another straight 
and level cut of five miles is to cross a low peninsula, mostly of 
marsh soil, stretching from the high land, between the deep waters 
of Albemarle and Currituck sounds. Some necessary dredging in 
the rivers, to obtain full eight feet depth, will make the entire depth 
of excavation fourteen miles. The width of water in the canal, at 
surface, is to be sixty feet. The depth will allow vessels of six feet 
draft, to pass through at first, and is to be deepened to eight feet, or 



ALBEMARLE AND CHESEPEAKE SHIP CANAL. 141 

more if required, afterwards. As there will be no lift-lock, (and 
only the tide-regulating lock,) there will be no difficulty in con- 
tinuing to dredge and deepen the passage, after the canal is in re- 
gular use. 

By this canal, the agricultural and other products of eighteen 
counties of North Carolina, embracing the most fertile lands in the 
State, will be offered a route to market so much cheaper, safer, and 
preferable in every respect, that it cannot fail to be substituted for 
those now in use, and which are costly in freight, slow in the times 
of passage, and hazardous either to cargoes or to vessels. These 
difficulties, even with all tlie mitigation afforded by the opening (»f 
the Dismal Swamp canal, have been continued and most oppressive 
burdens on the trade of North Carolina waters, and the productions 
of all the neighboring country — which the new, deep, and level canal 
will go far to remove. At all former times it would liave been con- 
ceded, that to bring the products of all lower North Carolina, thus 
cheaply, safely, and speedily, to Norfolk only, would have been a 
vast benefit to the producing region. But by admitting the passage 
of such large sea- vessels, as the completed canal will allow, (carrying 
five thousand bushels of grain,) the cargoes may be carried safely, 
and without transshipment, to any port on our Atlantic coast, or 
to the West-Indies. The vessels must indeed necessarily pass 
through the noble harbor of Norfolk, and close by the wharves. If 
Norfolk should offer, as it can, and ought to do, prices as high as 
more distant markets — or so nearly as high, as to afford no gain in 
the vessels proceeding further, at higher cost of freight, then Nor- 
folk will have, as it ought to have, all the purchaser's profit in these 
great additional supplies, and all the benefit of so much addition to 
its now existing producing back country. But if narrow and false 
views of self-interest shall keep the prices offered by Norfolk mer- 
chants much below those to be had in more distant markets — or 
less by more than the additional cost of freight, if extending the 
voyage to more distant markets — then the shippers will be entirely 
free and competent to choose and to seek the best markets — and 
Norfolk and Portsmouth will, in that case only loose, and will well 
deserve to loose, the profit of buying and selling all the productions 
of this great region, which is, or ought to be the proper back-coun- 



142 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

try of Norfolk and Portsmoutli. These two towns — or the one port i 
and town which in fact they constitute — ought not only to secure 
all thisgreat trade, coming by this new channel, and of which every 
caro-o must be at least offered to their acceptance — but they ought 
to be the great commercial port and market of Virginia. If the 
mei'chants of Norfolk and Portsmouth fail to secure these great ad- 
vantages, and especially the whole trade of eastern North Carolina, 
it will be entirely the result of tlieir own fault. 

If the increased facilities to navigation to be furnished by the 
new canal should be as great as are anticipated, the benefits will 
extend far beyond the range and higher boundaries of the existing 
navigation of the sounds. The rivers of North Cai'olina, or those 
flowing into Albemarle sound, above the limits of navigation for 
sea vessels, offer extensive channels for large boats, which have 
scarcely been put to any use. Such focilities have been vainly of- 
fered by the upper v^aters of the Neuse and the Tau, and the Me- 
herrin and Nottoway rivers. These open and smooth water-ways, 
and the two first also long channels, in other covmtries would con- 
vey to market, in boats, all the products of their bordering and 
contiguous land. But, owing to the difficulties and expenses of 
the passage to sea, and the low prices offered by all easily accessi- 
ble markets, the lower that agricultural products might be sent 
down upon these rivers, the farther they were from the best mar- 
kets. Consequently no use was made of the extensive and easy 
upper river navigation. But when the obstructions to the Chesa- 
peake and the ocean are removed, and the main expenses also, all 
these now useless water-ways will be put to their proper use, and 
the products of the bordering lands will be mainly transported by 
water instead of by land, as heretofore. Thus, not only will the 
production of all the existing back-country of the sounds be stim- 
ulated and increased by the reduction of expenses and increase of 
profits, but the area of the producing back-country will be greatly 
enlarged. 



ALHEJIAKLE AND CHESAPEAKE SHIP CANAL. 14:3 

IX. — Noiy:l and rcmarlcahlc manner of excawting the new Ca- 
nal. Profitable benefit of this and similar works, to drainage 02)er- 
ations 

The excavation of the new canal has been begun (May, 1856,) 
and is in progress at three different parts of the line, viz., in the 
five-mile cut, in North Carohna, and at both ends of the eight-mile 
cut in Virginia. The interest felt in the work and its object, and 
also in the manner of excavation, induced me to visit all the three 
operations. The whole route for excavation in North Carolina, is 
through a low and flat peninsula, mostly free from obstructions. 
The large cut in Virginia will beentirely along the course of a long 
and straight depression, the land being a low and wet swamp in 
its present condition. The highest points of elevation will not be 
more than four feet above the level of the surface water of the 
canal — and the wdiole excavation will not average more than 
two feet above that surface. Thus eight feet of excavation, 
throughout, will give six feet depth of water ; and ten feet will 
give the complete and designed eight feet. 

But this very low level of the land through the route, which so 
much lessens the amount of earth to be excavated, serves, in most 
*places, to increase the difficulty of the work. The surface of the 
swampy ground is, in many places, so nearly level with the water, 
and the earth is so genei-ally a quagmire of peat, and so full of 
dead roots and buried logs, under the water, and of living trees and 
roots over and at the surface, when but very little above water, that 
the difficulties of removing such obstructions are very great, and 
would be insuperable if by the use of ordinary utensils, and with 
hand-labor. But the means used were very different ; and to me, 
were as novel as they seemed admirable. The excavation is effected 
entirely by steam-dredges of new construction, and great power. The 
one I saw in operation, near North Landing, was then in the most 
difficult ground, the very low swamp just above the bridge. The 
earth was barely above the water, and covei'ed with heavy and 
thick swamp forest growth — and beneath the surface, in the former 
channel of the choked river, wei'e buried numerous sound stumps 



144 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

and trunks of cypress trees, which had been covered deeply by the 
slow accumulation of vegetable soil, for ages past. The cutting 
through and removal of this mass of living and dead (but sound) 
wood, imbedded in semi-fluid mire, and from beneath standing wa- 
ter, could scarcely have been effected at all, except by the wonder- 
ful machine in use, which derives aid from the presence of deep 
water, in w^hich no hand-labor could effect anything. 

The dredging apparatus is in a vessel of fifty or sixty feet long, 
and is worked by a sixteen horse power steam-engine. There are 
seven of these dredging machines and vessels at the different places, 
and there will be built two more, of greater size and power. The 
excavation was begun at the edge of deep water, as enough water 
to float the vessel is necessary for the operation. Thence, the ma- 
chines carried on the excavation regularly, to the full depth and 
width required for the early navigation. Two machines, one work- 
ing a little ahead of the other, carry the full width of the canal. 
After finishing at one position, the vessel is moved forward, the head 
of the vessel facing the earth to be cut away, and there it is fasten- 
ed to the bottom securely, by convenient appliances. An enorm- 
ous beam, with an iron scoop, or box, at the extremity, is thrust 
forward and dipped into the water, just ahead of the vessel, and 
then drawn upward against the face of the bank to be cut away. 
If it be of any ordinary earth, hard or soft, the cutting edge of the 
scoop goes in easily, and the box rises, filled with its load of earth, 
which is forty cubic feet, the measure of the capacity of the box. 
The beam slowly swung around, (on the crane principle,) the bot- 
tom of the box is left open, and the earth falls out on the bank on 
one side. When the digging is easy, the scoop may be dropped 
and lifted, and will cut out and dispose of its forty cubic feet of 
earth, once in every minute. But, while the operation, as I saw 
it, was very much slower, its effect was even more remarkable and 
surprising, in reference to the difficulties. The obstacles could delay, 
but could not prevent the effectual operation of the machine. The 
living roots, of great size, were gradually loosened, and finally torn 
out. The stumps were undermined, by the scoop cutting beneath 
the main roots, and then lifted up. However such obstructions may 



ALBEMARLE AND CHESAPEAKE SHIP CANAL. 145 

retard the progress of the work, nothing can effectually resist, or 
defeat, the monster ditcher. The thrusting out of the beam, its 
sundry changes of position, suited to every required effort, the seiz- 
ing and tearing up of the roots and earth, and finally, the slow 
stretching out of the enormous arm, and the opening and emptying 
of its hand — all moved by the unseen pov^er of steam — made the 
whole operation seem as if it was the manual labor of a thinking 
being, of colossal size, and of inconceivable physical power. 

At the other end of this cut, near Great Bridge (in Norfolk coun- 
ty,) the obstacles are inconsiderable, and the dredging much easier 
and more rapid in progress. There the earth is also low, wet and 
boggy ; but not much encumbered by roots, or large shrubs or 
bushes. 

The third place of excavation, in North Carolina, is still of dif- 
ferent character. It is on the Currituck side of the peninsula, 
which is to be cut through to reach Albemarle sound. This is ne- 
cessary, because the channel of Currituck sound south of this place, 
is too shallow for the designed depth of navigation. But as this 
obstacle made this cut necessary, its being made will have another 
benefit, in much shortening the whole passage. The excavation 
here is through a low and boggy marsh, scarcely a foot higher than 
the water. The marsh was covered by water grasses, then (late in 
May) about a foot high. These grasses w^ere smaller, and different 
from the growth of the fresh-water marshes on James river. I saw 
there no coarse sedge, cat-tail flags, or wild-oats, the common 
plants of other fresh-water marshes. The grasses here are proba- 
bly better food, and the marsh of firmer texture — as I saw many 
cattle grazing — and also sheep on other and higher parts. The bog 
soil was about four feet deep, resting on a firm blue clay. These 
earths were taken up by the dredge with great ease. The great 
difficulty here is the liability of the miiy earth to run in again, af- 
ter being heaped on the margins — or by its weight, to press dowTi 
the soft mud of the margin, and force it into the excavation. It is 
earnestly hoped that neither these nor any unforeseen difficulties 

19 



14G SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

may prevent the speedy and perfect completion of this great work 
— which will give to North Carolina, for the first time a proper 
outlet for, and the proper use of her noble interior navigable wa- 
ters. 

X. — The great fisheries on the sounds, and how conducted. 

The great fisheries in the rivers and sounds make a very impor- 
tant item of the productions of North Carolina. It would be in- 
teresting to know the statistics and annual returns of this branch 
of industry. This particular information I cannot supply. But, 
in addition to some general remarks, I will describe the manner of 
conducting a great fishery, as learned from one of the proprietors, 
and of which some part was also seen elsewhere. 

The fisheries on the large rivers, by seines drawn to the shores, 
have been long in operation. But it has been but recently, com- 
pared to the others, that fisheries were first tried in the broad wa- 
ters of the sounds. Though, previously it was supposed that the 
great expenses of such fisheries could not be repaid, and that in so 
broad a channel, but few of the fish could be reached from the 
shore, on trial the sound fisheries were found to be the most pro- 
ductive and profitable. 8iuce, so many fisheries have been estab- 
lished, that the products and profits of each one has, in latter years, 
been greatly diminished. 

The land and shore at Stevenson's Point, (the extremity of Du- 
rant's neck,) was the property of Messrs. J. T. Granberry and F. 
Nixon, and there, and by them, the first sound fishery was estab- 
lished, and conducted. Albemarle sound is there supposed to be 
nine to ten miles across, and in the edge of this broad space the 
seine is hauled. I will describe the manner of conducting this 
fishery, which does not differ materially from most others since es- 
tablished on tlie sound shore. The extremities of sweeps of the 
different fisheries almost touch each other — and extend, with but 
few intervals to the Chowan river. The labors and other facts of 
this and other like fisheries may well astonish those readers 



{/ 



THE GREAT FISHERIES OF THE SOUNDS. 147 

who were before uninformed as to the magnitude of the opera- 
tions. 

The seines used in different fisheries, vary in lengtli from 2,200 
to 2,700 yards and are eighteen feet deep, as fished. They are laid 
out at about a mile and a quarter from the shore. Of course the haul- 
ing ropes, from both ends, to reach the shore must be together more 
than two and a-half miles long. A seine is carried out by two 
large boats, each managed by twelve able hands, (in some cases 
ten suffice,) and is laid out beginning from the middle straight 
and nearly parallel with the shore. The boats, from each end of 
the seine, then row to the shore, letting the attached hauling ropes 
run out from the boats. The shore ends of the ropes are then 
attached to large capstans, each turned by six horses. Except 
two men required at each captan, one to drive the horses, and the 
other to watch and direct the passage of the rope around the shaft, 
all the other men attached to the seine are discharged to rest, eat, 
or sleep, as they may choose, until the ends of the seine reach the 
shore — except, that, at fixed and equal intervals, (indicated by marks 
on the ropes,) the few men employed at the capstans, are relieved 
by others. The fishing labors are carried on without cessation, 
through the twenty-four hours, except when suspended because of 
storms. Therefore, the hands, like sailors at sea, work and rest, 
not by day and by night, but by shorter " watches." Besides the 
fishermen, or boats' crews, there are fifteen other men employed on 
the shore, and forty women and boys, to trim, salt, and pack the her- 
rings caught. The particularlarge draughts of herrings as well as the 
whole number caught by each seine in a season, have greatly dimin- 
ished, as the seines have been increased in number. The seine at 
Stevenson's Point once brought in, and landed, 220,000 herrings at 
one haul. On the rare occasions of such enormous draughts of 
fish, and at other times when the cleaning and salting cannot pro- 
ceed fast enough to save the fish if all were landed at once, and in 
warm weather, the ends of the seine are landed gradually, and a 
smaller seine hauled within the enclosed space, so as to land the 
fish no faster than needed, or than is safe. In this way, one draught 



) 



148 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 



/I 



of the seine has in some cases been more than twenty-four hours in 
being landed. 

The first outfit of one of these seines, and the expenses of the first 
season, make from $12,000 to $15,000. Afterwards, the expense 
for the season is lessened by as much as will serve again of the seine, 
boats and fixtures. The hands are either hirelings for the time, or 
the cost is counted as such. 

Considering that all these herrings, are fish of passage, and enter 
every spring from the ocean, it is astonishing that such multitudes 
should enter through the very narrow and shallow inlets through 
the sand-reef. It is understood by naturalists that fish of passage, 
if not obstructed, seek every spring to return to lay their eggs in 
their native rivers. If so, it would be an excellent policy to forbid 
by law the taking of such fish except witliin stated intervals of 
time, the best of the season. This would cut oft* only the least pro- 
fitable extremes of time ; and by permitting enough breeders to 
pass safely, the numbers of fish would be greatly increased for the 
future, and the fisheries enabled to obtain more fish within tlie limit- 
ed time, than now in the whole usual time of .fishing. 

And if such a policy would be profitable in North Carolina, 
where only hauling seines are used, how much more are needed 
these and other restrictions on the shad fishing in the rivers of Vir- 
ginia. There, the multitude of floating gill-nets, (many fished by 
northeners, who anchor and remain in our rivers, for the fishing sea- 
son,) have ruined most of the former land fisheries, and yet cannot 
supply what the land fisheries have lost. The gill-nets hang the 
largest female shad, often ready to spawn, and which then loose 
their spawn in their struggles, even though they may escape. Thus 
these nets take or injure the best breeders, and pi-event the breed- 
ing of far greater numbers than they secure. The number of fish 
to be annually taken in our rivers would be doubled, and the prices 
for fresh fish be greatly reduced below the recent high rates, if all fish- 
ing for shad was limited in time, and gill-nets, and especially foreign 
fishermen, were prohibited altogether. 



I 



\ 



THE GREAT FISHERIES OF THE SOUNDS. 149 



Besides themaiiianddirect profit of these fisheries, there is anotli- 
er, which is not availed of to one-tenth of the extent that miglit 
be done. This is the use, as manure, of the immense amount of 
animal matter in the "trinmiing" or garbage, of the herrings and 
other sale fish, and also of other fish, for which there is no demand, 
and which sometimes rot and go to waste, by hundreds of bushel?. 
Of the oflal that is used, the practice is, as it has been from the 
beginning, to deposit a fish, or a handful of the garbage at every 
station of corn, and cover it over, either before or after the planting 
of the crop. In this mode, nmcli the larger portion of the animal 
matter finds nothing to combine wath, or be assisted by — and as it 
putrifies, is wasted in the air. Fiom the time of the first slight 
burying of this animal matter, and as long as any portion of it re- 
mains, the buzzards are attracted by the odor, and are engaged dili- 
gently in digging up and devouring the manure. If, instead of thus 
oflering for the use of the plants, this richest of material in a shape 
and condition unfit for the food of plants — and in a manner by which 
nine-tentlis of the value is wasted, while the remaining one-tenth 
becomes fit for use as manure, the whole might be saved in proper 
compost heaps, in mixture with other ingredients, which would ab- 
sorb, or chemically combine with, or otherwise act to save and se- 
cure for future use thisvaluablematerial — which, as applied, rapidly 
escapes from the earth, to contannnate the air. Carbonate of lime 
(as in marl) alone, if near at hand, and available in suflicient quanti- 
ty, would, in mixture with this animal matter, combine with the 
products of its then very slow decomposition, and so prevent all 
waste. But swamp, or other rich soil, or clay, would be useful as 
additional materials for the compost beds, and would enable a small 
quantity of carbonate of lime to serve, with a much lai'ger pro- 
portion of such earth, as well as much carbonate of lime, if 
alone. 

It no proper materials fur composting were at hand, the animal 
matter, might be saved for future use as manure, and for distant 
transportation, by being dried by artificial heat, and thus rendered, 
while kept dry in casks, safe from wasteful decomposition. This 



i 



150 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

process is now used at the nortli, to preserve for transportation an 
artificial manure composed principally of fish. If both these and 
other methods were used throughout our whole country, for secur- 
ing from wa6te, and using as manure, all the refuse and wasted, and 
richest animal matters, including the human excrements of towns, 
and which now go to utter waste, the matters so saved would be 
equal, in quantity, quality, and value as manure, to all the enormous 
supply of Peruvian guano now imported and used, at the cost to 
agriculture of millions of dollars, and which, is of such uncertain 
and transient effect, that it may well be doubted whether the use 
will ultimately leave any clear benefit and profit to the purchasers 
and users of this costly manure. 



XI. — The wild ducks, and other water-fowls of Currituck sound, 

and their imj)ortant value. Northern i?iterlo]}ers, and incendiary 

agents. 

In Princess Anne and Currituck counties, the killing of wild wa- 
ter-fowl is a branch of industry of considerable importance for its 
amount of profit. Its extent is scarcely known by any person out 
of this region. For myself I had never heard of it, as a regular 
business pursued for profit, and I was as much impressed with the 
novelty as with the singular features of the pursuit. If a full and 
graphic description could be given, by a competent eye-witness, 
and one well accustomed to the excitement and the hardships of 
this combination of pleasure and labor, the account would be high- 
ly interesting. On this occasion, not being either a participator or 
a personal observer, I will not attempt to carry description into de- 
tail • but will merely, from report of reliable informants, make some 
general statements of the business in question. 

Since the closing of the former deep and wide Currituck inlet, 
the strip of ocean sand-beach, or reef, has been unbroken from the 
northern extremety, in Princess Anne, bordering on the Chesa- 
peake bay, for some fifty-five miles, to the southern end of Cur- 
rituck county — and still further to the great open beach of the sea 
across the reef. The narrow waters, or sounds, enclosed between 



WILD DUCKS — NORTHERN INTERLOPERS, &.C. 151 

tlie sand-reef and the main land, is in Virginia not nsually more 
than two miles wide. In North Carolina it widens into Curritnck 
sound, and is between five and ten miles wide, and has within it 
several inhabited islands. All these sound waters are shallow, and 
for the much larger extent, less than ten feet — and a large propor- 
tion, near the shores, under six feet deep. Since the complete 
closing of Currituck inlet, in 1828, and the water has become fresh, 
changes have been gradually effected in most of the productions. 
One of the most important was in affording new and remarkable 
attractions to wild fowl of passage. Three or more different kinds 
of fresh-water grasses, soon began to grow on the bottom of all 
the shallower waters, and even to where it is nine feet deep. Thej 
extend their top shoots to the surface of the water, and are prevent- 
ed from rising above, because the slender and flexible stems need 
the support of the surrounding water, to float them, and so pre- 
serve their erect position. These different grasses now cover 
the whole bottom, within the limits of depth named. The seeds 
of some of these plants I found nearly matured in the latter part of 
May. But it is not until autumn that the various kinds of water 
fowl, passing from their far northern summer retreats, are attracted 
to this place, by the great abundance of their preferred food. 
Some kinds of ducks prefer one water grass, and some another. 
Some eat the seeds, and others the stems, others only seek and dig 
up the roots, for food.* 

There are ducks of various kinds, of which the eanvas-back is 
the most esteemed. There are also wild geese, and swans. Alto- 
gether they congregate in numbers exceeding all conception of any 
person who had not been informed. The shooting season continues 
through the winter. From description, I cannot imagine any other 
sport, of field or flood, that can be more likely to gratify a hardy 



* I preserved specimens of the three most common of these water plants, (though 
without the flowers, being obtained at a later time of growth,) and sent them, for iden- 
tification, to a botanist. Professor M. Tuomey, Geological Surveyor of Alabama. 
He reported these to be, (1, with oval veined leaves,) Potamogeton Iticens, Lin. (2,, 
with linear le&yes,) P. paucl flora, Pursh — and (3, with long grass-like leaves,) Zos^erc* 
marina ? Liu. 



152 SKETCHES OP LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

sportsman — unless the certain and great success is such as, by its 
certainty, to take away much of the pleasure of such amusements. 
The returns, in game killed and secured, through any certain time, 
to a skilful and patient and enduring gunner, areas sure as the pro- 
fits of any ordinary labor of agriculture or trade, and far larger for 
the capital and labor employed. 

Decoy ducks and geese are used to attract the flying flocks of 
wild ones. In most cases, the decoys are made of wood, painted 
to resemble the designed originals. In fewer cases the decoys are 
living geese and ducks, of wild kinds tamed or confined ; and these 
are tied by one foot so as to swim at the place where it is designed 
that the flocks shall settle on the water. The wooden decoys arfi 
•of course anchored, so as to float in natural positions. A small and 
natural-looking " blind" or screen, made of a few bushes, with 
rushes, dry water-grass, &c., is constructed within gun-shot dis- 
tance of the place where the decoys swim. Behind the " blind" 
the gunner hides himself, and remains perfectly silent and still, to 
await the arrival of the " raft" of wild ducks. They are often so 
numerous as entirely to cover acres of the surface of the water, so 
that the observer from the beach would see only ducks, and 
no water between them. These great collections are termed 
"rafts." The gunner places his decoys, and takes his position, 
sometimes hours before daylight. It often happens that he waits, 
in the coldest weather, for hours before he gets his first shot. The 
flocks of birds, very frequently flying high over the position, are 
attracted to join any others they may see swimming, and so are 
apt to come over to the wooden decoys. But the living decoys 
seem to understand and enjoy the sport, and to join in it heartily 
The decoy ducks loudly and frequently quack in full chorus, so as 
the more strongly to invite the unsuspecting victims of their treach- 
ery. The living decoy ducks are arranged in two rows, on the 
right and left of the gunner, and tied by lines long enough to allow 
each duck to swim to some distance on every side from its place of 
anchorage. It is said, that when the wild ducks are drawn to the 
place, and alight among and surround the decoys, the latter will 



WILD DUCKS — NORTHERN INTERLOPERS, &C. 153 

speedily swim apart on either side, as far as their confining lines 
permit, from the central space, which is swept by the deadly shot. 
The most effective shots are made after the ducks are alarmed (de- 
signedly) and j ust as the whole raft takes wing. Then they are far 
more exposed, and are killed, or crippled, in great numbers even by 
a single discharge. In 'some cases, the wild fowls continue to come 
so fast, that the gunners do not leave their blinds until near sunset, 
when they go to pick up and save all the dead birds that have not 
floated off, too far, and are lost. As there is no tide, or current, 
there is not usually so much loss by this delay as might be sup- 
posed. 

The foregoing general statements, with many other particular and 
marvellous reports, I heard from various persons, and mostly at second 
hand. But the following particular facts I learned from the personal 
knowledge of a highly respectable gentleman, Mr. Edgar Burroughs, 
and a proprietor of a farm on the sound in Princess Anne. The shoot- 
ing (as a business) on his shores is done only by gunners hired byhim- 
self,and for his own profit, and who are paid a fixed price for every 
l^owl delivered to him, according to its kind, from the smallest or 
least prized species of ducks, to the rare and highly valued swan. 
Mr. B. has employed thirty gunners through a winter. He pro 
vides and charges for all the ammunition they require, which they 
pay for out of their wages. In this manner he is obliged to know 
accurately how much ammunition he gives out ; and it may be 
presumed that the gunners do not waste it unnecessarily, at their 
own expense. Mr. B. in this manner, and for his own gunners and 
his own premises only, in one winter, used more than a ton of gun- 
powder, and shot in proportion, which was more than four tons, 
and forty-six thousand percussion caps. From thi? expenditure, 
along the shore of one large farm only, there may be some faint 
conception of the immensity of the operations, and the results, 
along shores extending for full one hundred and fifty miles, and on 
all of which the same business is regularly pursued. Even northern- 
ers, as a regular business, come on every winter, to Princess Anne 
and elsewhere, to shoot wild fowl, and sell them to the northern 

20 



154 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

cities. These predatory encroachments are forbidden by the law 
and the usage of North Carolina, and therefore that territory is free 
from them. Bat we, in Virginia, submit tamely to this depreda- 
tion, just as we, more or less, leave to the free nse of the other north- 
erners, the fish and oysters of our rivers. These tangible and obvious 
depredations on the common property of the commonwealth, might 
be effectually prevented, even though, in common with all the south, 
we continue to submit to pay the much heavier and various tributes 
to the north, imposed through the action of Congress. And what 
we loose directly by these northern interlopers, in taking from our 
citizens, the supply of wild fowl, oysters and fish, is not worth con- 
sideration, compared to the greater evils they may cause. These 
fellows, of the lowest character and estimation, are stationed among 
us, yet inaccessible to our scrutiny, for months at a time, and each 
one, it may be for many seasons in succession. The vessel of 
the oyster catcher and dealer, and the anchored lighter of the 
gill-net fisherman, are secure from all visits, except by au- 
thority of law, or by illegal violence. The hut of the gunner is 
nearly as safe from inspection and intrusion. Thus these rascals 
have every facility (and far greater than if they were as ill-dis- 
posed natives, with neighborhood acquaintance,) to deal with our 
slaves, and to corrupt them, to sell to them spirituous liquors and 
buy from them stolen goods — and to act fully as the lowest and 
least observed, and least scrupulous of abolition agents — and, from 
their opportunities, perhaps with more success than the more gen- 
teel northern abolition agents, who are permitted to overrun the 
southern states, in the various disguises of commercial drummers 
and collectors — pedlers of every grade — agents to sell patent rights 
and machines, and to beg subscriptions for publications — teachers, 
male and female, tract and Bible society agents and distributors, 
and ministers of religion, claimed to be better and purer than the 
religion of the Gospel. I would stop from the free entrance to our 
country and our firesides, all these northern agents, so far as State 
laws can prevent — and with the more stringent aid of public opin- 
ion and disapprobation, where the law could not act. 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &( 



PA.ET IV^. 



THE ORIGIN AND MANNER OF GEOLOGICAL FOR- 
MATION OF TPIE GREAT ^VAMPS OF THE 
ATLANTIC COAST. 



In Britain and Ireland, and the neighboring northern parts of the 
continent of Europe, there are vast spaces of land covered by peat, 
a substance or soil composed for much the greater part, of vegetable 
material. In Ireland alone, the peat bogs cover 2,800,000 acres. 
In Scotland and the north of England, in Belgium, Holland, and 
other as cool and moist countries, peat is not less abundant, in pro- 
portion to the quantity of all other land. Alton, in his " Essay on 
Moss [or Peat] Earth," quotes from the published country reports 
of the Board of Agriculture, the estimated amount of " waste 
lands" in Scotland alone, to be 14,000,000 of acres. He objects to 
this number as too low, and estimates " the waste land in Scotland 
at upwards of 20,000,000 of acres ; and that a very large propor- 
tion of that species of land is covered more or less with moss- 
earth," i. e. peat or peaty soil. 

Peat is the final product of dead, but undecomposed vegetable 
matters. Wherever, because of a cool and moist summer-climate, 
or other sufficient local causes opposing decomposition, there is left 
on the surface of the earth, of each year's growth and droppings, 



156 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, ftC. 

more of the annual vegetable growth than can rot in the succeed- 
ing summer, and these unrotted remains continue thus to accumu- 
late from year to year, the result will be the formation of peat, made 
up of the partially decayed and insoluble vegetable remains ; and 
the formation will continue to increase in thickness, and often also 
in breadth, as long as the inducing and favoring circumstances of 
the locality continue to operate. 

The necessary conditions for the fomiation of peat, presented in 
a moist and cool climate, and the consequent slow and imperfect 
decomposition of dead vegetable matters, (or their annual decay be- 
ing, on the general average, slower than their annual growth and ac- 
cumulation,) are so generally operating in Great Britain, that it 
seemspeat may there form anywhere, if land is left untilled and un- 
grazed, and also in want of drainage, and saturated with standing 
water. Even ordinary high pasture lands, in Scotland, if left long 
untilled, become of " moorish" quality, or acquire a thin layer of 
peaty covering over the surface of the original earthy soil. 

Most persons in eastern Virginia and the more southern states 
are even now unacquainted with the existence of peat in this coun- 
trv. And until within latter years, the formation was not known, 
as being peat, to any observers. In this general ignorance, I was 
formerly fully involved. And, in a publication on soils, made in 
1821, I assumed, as unquestionably true, that no peat existed, or 
could be formed, in eastern Virginia.* Yet my then residence 
was within seventy miles of the nearest border of the great Dis- 
mal Swamp, which, however, no one then had supposed to be a 
peat bog, ?ind perhaps no one, of those who were best acquainted 
with that swamp personally, knew what peat was. On many 
farms of the higher country, in narrow bottoms or other small 
spaces of low, wet, and shaded surface, there exists peat earth, 
(in the agricultural sense,) as a black semi-fluid mire, but which, 
even now, is known to be peat by very few of the proprietors, or 
other neighboring residents. 



* The first publication and form ©f th« Kmrj on Calcareous Manures, in tie " Ameri- 
taa farmer." 



THE GREAT SWAMPS OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 1-57 

My former ignorance on this subject, at a time when, even if any 
better information existed, none had appeared in print, may be 
excused, inasmuch as otliers, better informed in scientific agricul- 
ture, and on this particular subject, remained much longer as ill- 
informed of the limits of peat growth. Professor J. "W. F. John- 
ston, as late as 1844, in his '"Lectures on the application of Chem- 
istry and Geology to Agriculture," where treating of peat soils, 
has the following passage : " There is a certain range of tem- 
perature within which alone peat seems capable of being produ- 
ced. Thus at the level of the sea, it is never found nearer the 
equator than 40° or 45° of latitude, while its limit towards the 
poles appears to be within the 60th degree." " Still, on the equa- 
tor itself, at a sufficient altitude above the sea, the temperature 
may be cool enough [in summer] to permit the gr' wth of peat." 
(Lect. XII.) This general rule, with the stated exception, as to 
high elevations, would still deny the existence of peat to all the 
eastern half of Virginia, and, consequently still more decidedly, 
to all the more southern parts of the Atlantic slope, and coasts. 
I remained under a like general opinion until in 1837 ; when, for 
the first time seeing and examining the Dismal Swamp, I was 
soon convinced, and published the opinion, that the whole of that 
great morass, to its bottom, was one great accumulation of peat, 
and peaty soil. Inference at first, and afterwards personal exami- 
ation, made me extend this opinion to all of the great swamps of 
l!Torth Carolina. And from analogy and inference only, without 
having seen, or even heard any particulars of the locality, I con- 
clude that the great swamp Okefiuokee, marked on the map of 
Georgia near the border of Florida, is of the same general peat 
formation. 

Having then learned and corrected my previous error, by the 
facts observed of the Dismal Swamp, I also thereby learned the 
natural appearance of peat, and was afterwards enabled to recog- 
nize it in many small spaces in the higher country. Such also is 
generally the black miry soil (as seen in a state of nature,) of much 
or most of the Blackwater swamp. 

But still the same substantial and true foundation for the gen- 
eral rule of peat-formation remains unshaken by these exceptions. 



158 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

For peat to be formed, there are required (not any precise limits 
of latitude, or altitude, or even general temperature,) but such 
conditions of summer temperature, shade, moisture audits reten- 
tion, and also of vegetable matters to be acted on, as, altogether, 
will permit the accumulation of vegetable remains, to be increas- 
ed, in the course of years, faster than their decay and decomposi- 
tion can proceed in equal length of time. Such conditions in nu- 
merous cases exist in northern Europe, within the limits of lati- 
tude stated by Johnston, and, it may be, rarely south of these lim- 
its. Still they have operated, and to very great effect and extent, 
in various parts of this much more southern and much hotter and 
dryer country ; and after the formation of peat had been there 
begun, the conditions and causes conducive to the formation 
were increased more and more with the progress of their ef- 
fects. 

" The occurrence of standing water," says Professor Johnston, 
" is necessary for the production of peat." To this position I as- 
sent, and require further that the standing water shall be so shal- 
low as not to forbid the growth of bog plants therein. In the 
standing water in old and choked ditches, along the side of the 
roads, and in shallow pools, under shade, in the low and flat for- 
est land of IsTorth and South Carolina, there may often be seen 
growing, in and above, and also sometimes entirely under the 
water, a peculiar knot of moss {sjjhagjimn palustre ?) which dimin- 
utive as it is, is the most abundant source of durable material for 
the formation of peat. This little plant never rises more than a 
few inches in height. Its top, in its outlines, approaches to globu- 
lar shape, and each one is something in form and size like a white 
clover cluster of blossoms. The plant generally, is of dull green 
color, with touches of lighter green intermixed, and the young- 
est shoots approaching to a pale pinkish tint. This moss grows 
only in shallow water, or on bog-soil saturated with water. It 
may be entirely covered under standing water, for considerable 
length of time, without being damaged. And yet, when left bare 
in times of drought, it is hardy enough to live, and to wait for 
the return of the usual and proper condition of partial submer- 
sion in water. This plant, forming a continuous close and thick 



THE GKEAT SWAMPS OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 1-59 

mat. covers the whole surface of the water-soaked and miry "ju- 
niper hind" of the Dismal Swamp, or the " sponge" soil, so call- 
ed there. This moss, (as I infer from general description,) is 
also the most common growth on peat in Britaiii, as stated by 
Alton, in his interesting " Essa}' on the Origin, qualities and uses 
of Moss Earth," to which I was indebted lor much of my earlier 
information on this general subject, in regard to Scotland, and 
for the interest excited, which led me to subsequent laborious per- 
sonal investigations in this countrj^ where the results and the 
phenomena, as well as some of the inducing causes of peat 
formation, vary in sundry important respects from these of Eu- 
rope * 

The peat bogs of Britain, and of Europe generally, are entirely 
destitute of living trees, and (as tl ert suppose d) are now incapa- 
ble of sustaining the growth of trees. But in this country, the 
peat lands are generally covered by heavy ibrest growth of sub- 
aquatic (or wet land) trees ; and the juniper (or white cedar,) is 
seen nowhere except on the most entirely vegetable, spongy, and 
miry, of these vegetable soils. On such ground, which is scarce- 
ly more of earth than of water, and where every footstep sinks 
deep into mire and water through the thick carpet of green moss, 
slender and graceful juniper trees, though not very large, make 
a luxuriant and beautiful forest growth. And on other parts, 
where more of true cart' y material is intermixed with the peat, or 
where clay lies near below, the much larger cypresses, intermixed 
more ( r less with black gum, maple, jjoplar, and other trees of 
drier swamp lands, rise to great sizes, and present magniticent 
though gloomy forest scenery. The peat bogs of Britain and 
Ireland, '^dien dug into, often show the prostrate trunks of oaks 
and other trees of dry land growth — thus clearly indicating that 
the peat formation there had covered over a surface of wiiat had 
formerly been dry and good soil. Our deep bog soils also have 
buried therein the stumps and trunks of trees, in very great quan- 



* This Essay originally appeared in the Edinburgh " Farmers' Magazine," and was 
republished by me in the " Farmers' Register (of Va.,) Vol. v., page 462. 



160 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, AC. 

tity, and extending to considerable depth, below the present sur- 
face. But these are always trees of aquatic growth — or such as 
still grow on the surface, or might grow there if not excluded by 
other hardier kinds, or if not prevented by the frequent occur- 
rence of fires, which, in many localities, have killed to the 
ground, and prevent the growth of all but annual shoots. 

Another (apparent) difference is that much of the European 
peat serves well, and is extensively used, for fuel. Ours (of the 
Southei n States,) is combustible also. But it has never been used 
for fuel, and therefore, (and also because of its more reduced tex- 
ture,) would seem to be unfit for that use. Again — when our peat 
soils have been drained, cleared, and tilled, they are, (at least for 
a few years, and generally much longer,) highly fertile, and none 
(when new) have ever been manured, or seemed to require such 
aid to their early fertility. But in England and Scotland, when 
peat soils are first drained or brought under culture, it is deemed 
an essential preliminary to manure them with dung or other pu- 
trescent matters, and especially to apply lime, and clay or other 
earth — the latter in very heavy dressings. But even with all these 
aids, it is comparatively but a recent discovery in Britain that 
peat bog soil, (called "moss earth" in Scotland,) was capable of 
being made fit for cultivation. Aiton, (who wrote in 18 11,) says — 
" Until of late, the proprietors and possessors of moss-land were 
ignorant of its value as a cultivated soil, and contented them- 
selves wit'i the pasture it yielded and the game it produced. 
Those wh > first talked of raising grain, or roots, from moss, were 
held up to derision ; and to this day, moss-culture is laughed at^ 
and considered as a whim, even by the generality of farmers." 
So fiir Aiton referred to moss (or peat) land generally, including 
in these remarks all the firmer and better qualities — which he dis- 
tinguishes as " hill-moss" and "bent-moss," from the worst kind^ 
or '' flow-moss," which seems, (of the three kinds,) to agree most 
nearly with the " sponge" soil of our juniper swamp, or other 
peat whereon not even juniper trees can now live. The former 
kinds are often on mountain tops and steep, or gently sloping hill- 
sides — as water on the surface is enough to produce peat any- 
where in Scotland. But, as to " flow-moss," Aiton says — "Where, 



THE aREAT SWAMP.S OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. J f) I. 

from the surface being still more level, and the siib-soil close and 
impenetrable to water, and where by the rising of springs, over- 
thrown trees, [originally.] or other obstructions, a still larger 
quantity of moisture has been detained, and continues to be kept 
on the surface, everything in the shape of grass or green [useful] 
herbage is banished, and the following plants grow up, viz. ; 
Marsh fog [sphagnum 'palustre^ goldilock {jpoly trichon comTniune^^ 
drab-colored fog ibryum /irjp?wide.s,) cotton-heads {erio-jphorum 
jpolystaohioR^ SfC.,) turkey club-rush {scripus ccespitosus,) yellow 
fogs {hypnum rutabulum et fillcinum,) heather (erica vulgaris et 
tetralix.) In such situations moss earth w^ill be found of from 
two to iifty feet in thickness, and where the supply of moisture 
on the surface is still more abundant, the stratum is fast increas- 
ing. Moss of this description [when dried] is always loose, open, 
light, of a drab-color, and the vegetable fibre being still percepti- 
ble ; and though it readily burns, makes but a weak fire. This is de- 
nominated '•'•fiow-moss.'' Alton subsequently speaks more fully of 
the understood character of this "flow moss," as being worthless — 
and of the then but recent improvements thereof — though, (by us- 
ing the costly applications wdiich I before referred to,) he deemed 
even this worst of peat soil susceptible of profitable improvement 
and culture. 

The distinguished Scottish agriculturist, Lord Kaimes at an 
earlier time had, in a remarkable and costly operation, given evi- 
dence that the soil buried under the peat formation in Scotland, 
was worth more and was better worth uncovering, where circum- 
stances permitted, than the overlying peat was of being drained 
and then improved for bearing crops. He owned a body of peat- 
covered land on the border of a large stream, the water of which 
he made use of to remove the peat, and float it ofl^" to the sea, so as 
to expose, and finally to bring under culture, the before deeply 
buried and more valuable original soil. This singular mode of 
improvement was not only prosecuted by Lord Kaimes, but after 
his death was continued by his son. This would seem to prove 
that this laborious cutting loose and floating away of the whole 
deep bed of peat was sufficiently compensated in bringing into 

21 



162 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

use its previously covered bottom earth. Contrary to this Letter 
quality of the bottom earth, as soil, of these peate bogs of Scot- 
land, the underlying beds of our peats, so far as known, are barren 
sand, under the central and tlie thicker parts, and at best but 
clayey and also barren subsoil under some other parts of the peat 
soil, in the great swamps. 

From some of the several differences of character named, I in- 
fer that the European peats, produced under the climate most fa- 
vorable to peat formation, (because the most unfavorable to the 
complete decomposition of vegetable matters,) are therefore more 
generally made up of undecomposed and insoluble, and therefore 
inert vegetable remains, than our peat soils — of which, a large 
proportion of the moss is of vegetable matter so much reduced, 
\ that, when in its place, it is a black slime or soft mire, feeling 
like the finest and lightest of very recent clay sediment. In this 
condition, if the chemical qualities do not forbid, this finely re- 
duced peat, when drained, must be already fitted to feed plants, 
or to act as putrescent manure. Johnston speaks of the vegeta- 
ble portion of British peat soils amounting to sixty or seventy per 
cent, of the dry weight. The remaining forty to thirty per cent, 
of the true earthy and mineral ingredients, would not constitute 
one-tenth of the bulk of a soil of so little specific gravity when 
dry. And if this sixty to seventy per cent, of the dry weight, or 
ninety per cent, of the bulk, (as supposed,) of the peat soil wtis of 
undecomposed, and entirely insoluble and inert vegetable matter, 
it is obvious why such a soil should at first be barren and worth- 
less, and require heavy applications of manures, both earthy and 
putrescent, to render the newly drained soil fit to produce crops. 
On the other hand, if, by virtue of our hotter and longer summers, 
a large proportion of the yearly deposit of vegetable matters, on 
peat swamp, pass speedily into putrefaction (and so make true food 
or manure for plants,) leaving unrotted and insoluble but a small 
proportion, to go to increase the true peat formation, then it will be 
plain enough why such land, when first drained and subjected to 
culture, should at first be extremely rich and productive, how- 
ever defective such soils may be in other respects, and in later 
time. 



THE GREAT SWAMPS OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 1G3 

So miicli for the apparent differences of the qnalities of British 
peat soils as learned from British writers, and of ours, as learn- 
ed from my personal examinations and observations. I will now 
proceed to describe the peat swamps, in general and concise man- 
ner ; and then to trace the supposed geological formation of our 
peat bogs and soils, and attempt to explain the remarkable and 
strange circumstances which belong to our great peat swamps. 

The Dismal Swamp is the most northern of all here under con- 
sideration. This, from east to west is from fifteen to twenty miles 
across, and from its northern border, near Suffolk, in Virginia, to 
its southern extremity in North Carolina, the distance may be thir- 
ty to thirty-hve miles. Towards the south, the outlines are irregu- 
lar and ill-delined, the peaty swamp being there much interspersed 
with other low but lirm land. But on all the other outlines, the 
division between the swamp and the surrounding firm land is better 
defined. All of the space within Virginia, and a considerable ad- 
jacent portion within North Carolina, together with a compact 
body of unbroken peat swamp, within which there is no other kind 
of laud — and very little (and that only on the borders,) that has 
been drained, or cultivated. 

South of Albemarle Sound, the surface of the contiguous coun- 
ties of Washington, Tyrrell, and Hyde, and the greater part of Beau- 
fort — or all of the peninsula included between Albemarle and Pam- 
lico sounds — a compact area of fifty by sixty miles or more, is near- 
ly all of one great and connected body of peaty swamp. The ex- 
ceptions are in narrow strips of intersecting low but firm land. 
South of Pamlico sound, a similar low and flat surface extends to 
South Carolina, and from the narrow and shallow sounds of salt 
water near the ocean, there, back to various and considerable dis- 
tances. Swamp lands make up one-fourth or more of all this great 
space — but in separated localities and smaller spaces than are found 
north of Pamlico sound. Of all this great extent of morass and 
bog lands, I have personally and carefully examined but small por- 
tions and these of the more remarkable localities. These are differ- 
ent parts of the Dismal Swamp, along different routes of access — 
the drained and also some of the undrained lands on Lake Scupper- 



164 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

nong — the lands (mostly drained) around Lake Mattamuskeet — and 
the " Open Ground" savanna in Carteret county, and portions of 
the great swamps near Plymouth, and adjacent to Lake Wacca- 
maw. Many other peat swamps of smaller yet considerable size, 
though as well known, will not be further noticed here, and nu- 
merous other swamps I have barely seen, as passing over the differ- 
ent routes of travel in North Carolina and South Carolina. And 
much of the information which I have obtained as to the topogra- 
phy and physical characters of all these lands, I have gather- 
ed from the verbal statements of reliable neighboring residents, as 
well acquainted with the localities as any persons were. Still, from 
all these sources, my materials are but few and imperfect for a re- 
port on so wide a subject, so little known — and to investigate 
which, satisfactorily, would demand much more time and labor 
than a mere amateur explorei" could devote to it — and also more of 
varied scientific and agricultural knowledge than any one examiner 
would be like to possess. 

Under the general term of sivanq-, there are two very different 
kinds of land embraced in common parlance, and both of which 
are usually to be found interspersed in the same large space. The 
first kind is either properly peat, or otherwise of soil largely com- 
posed of peat, (making what I will call peaty soil.) The other 
kind is of low, wet, and rich soils, deriving in large proportion al- 
luvial accretions from the overflowing and turbid waters of border- 
ing rivers, or rich w^ashings from higher grounds, or other sources 
of such earthy supplies in addition to the deposits of vegetable re- 
mains, of successions of plants grown on the same ground. These 
latter swamp soils have so much more of true earthy than of vege- 
table material, that they are not combustible, and when drained, 
make rich and durable lands. These firm swainj) soils, as I wi'l call 
them, in contra-distinction to the j^cat sivamjjs, are intermingled 
with the latter in position, and cannot always be distinguished by 
a view of the surface, and before their being drained and cultiva- 
ted. Bat in advance of the sure testing by sufticient tillage, the 
original forest growth serves to distinguish this kind of land. If 
the original growth had been removed, a partial analysis of the soil. 



THE GREAT SWAJIPS OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 165 

by burning and weighing the incombustible residue, will still better 
indicate its degree of earthy constitution. When of sufficient ele- 
vation above tide, or other standing water, the drainage of these 
firm swamp lands is very simide, though it may be very laborious 
and costly. And proper draiiuige is all that is requii-ed to make 
these lands of great productiveness, and of long enduring fertility, 
and value. 

The swamp lands in large bodies are mainly another class — eith- 
er composed of true peat, (as the " Open Ground" savanna, and the 
juniper swamps in general,) or they are principally composed of 
peaty material, though having intermixed therewith enough of true 
earth to make productive and useful soils for tillage. These latter, 
in their natural state, are unusually seen covered with heavy forest 
growths, of black gum, some cypress and fewer of poplar, maples, 
ash, and other sub-aquatic trees. 

A stranger to tliis region, who liad only heard it described general- 
ly and imperfectly, would naturally infer that the great swamps were 
of low surface compared to all the neighboring firm and dry land 
and that these swamps, because of tlieir lower level, received tlie wa- 
ter flowing in transient rain-floods, and perpetual streams from the 
surrounding higher and firm grounds; and that to these supplies 
from without, were mainly due the extreme wetness, and saturation 
of all these swamps in their natural con<lition, and the large sur- 
plus of water whicli is always flowing from them, in rivers and 
smaller streams, emptying into the nearest tide-waters. The true 
state of the case is very diflerent. All the great peat swamps 
known to me are of higher general level than all or nearly all of the 
near adjacent firm and (so-called) dry land. Further, of each large 
body of peat swamp land, the central or interior portion is the high- 
est. And of the many crooked and narrow and sluggish, but mostly 
deep rivers and smaller water courses, which meander through parts 
of these great swamps, all have their headsprings in, and derive 
all their supplies of water from the swamps, and discharge them- 
selves outside, and generally after having passed from the swamp 
to and through firm and dry, but yet lower-lying land. A glance 
at the maps of North Carolina and Virginia, will serve to establish 
the main point here asserted. In the great connected swamp, 
which covers most of the peninsula between Albemarle and Pamlico 



166 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

sounds, it will bo seen th;it while Alligator and Pnngo rivors, and 
sundry others of less volume, all flow out of the interior swamp lands, 
in several difterent and opposite directions to reach the sounds, 
there is not a stream that flows from the outer lands towards the 
swamp, ihough not to be seen so clearly on the existing maps, yet 
actual inspection of the locality has shown the like facts as to the 
swamp regiiui surrounding Lake Mattamuskeet. Such also is near- 
ly, but iu)t entirely, the condition of things as to the Dismal Swamp, 
To that, for a few miles length of its western border only, dry land 
of general higher level reaches — and from that small space only, 
there flow (or api)ear to flow) into the swamp a few small streams, 
of which the largest has enough water to work an ordinary mill. 
But with these few and slight exceptions, and for all tlie other and 
far more extensive of its border outlines, the Dismal Swamp does 
not receive any stream from, without, while it supplies the head- 
springs, and all the upper waters of a considerable branch of the 
Nansemond river, the western and southern branches of Elizabeth 
river (all flowing northward and eastward to the Chesapeake,) and 
five other considerable rivers, flowing southward into Albemarle 
Sound — besides snialler streams. Whatever may be the amount 
of stream or rain-flood water that comes from without into 
the Dismal Swamp, the out-going water must exceed it fully twen- 
ty-fold. 

In the interior, and on the highest surface cf all these greatest 
bodies of swamj) thei'e are lakes of , onsiderable sizes, fllled with wa- 
ter to thei)" brims, except in dry seasons — and in very wet seasons 
these lakes ovei'flow their margins, and so increase the volume of 
the out-going streams. Lake Di'ummond in the Dismal Swamp is 
between oval and circular, seven miles long and six broad. Lake 
Scuppernong, (or Phelps) about of the same dimensions. Lake 
Mattamuskeet, before being lowered by partial drainage, was twenty 
miles long and seven wide. Alligator and Pungo lakes, of smaller 
sizes, than Scuppernong, and of ab<jut equal height of level, are in 
other parts of the same great connected body oi high swamp — and 
in the swamp south of Pamlico, there are several other lakes, of 
which the largest and the most southern is Waccamaw, three and 
four miles across in difi'erent directions. 

Inasmuch as there are no other visible sources, these lakes are 



I 

THE GREAT SWAMPS OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 167 

commonly supposed to be the sources of supply of all the rivers and 
streams flowing out of the swamps except what is supplied immedi- 
ately 1)}" rain, which is also commonly supposed to make but a 
small proportion of the whole. And then, to account for the im- 
mense quantity of water supposed to be furnished by the lakes, re- 
sort was had to the further supposition thattliey were supplied by a 
sufficient number of subterraneous springs or stre.ims, proceeding 
from higher and perliaps distant ground. This theory of the sup- 
ply of water to the Dismal Swamp is very old, and has, as the first 
known authority and supporter, the distinguished and generally well 
informed Col. Wm. Byrd. lu his curious '' Pro[)osal to drain the 
Dismal Swamp," written long bef )re the lake was first discovered, 
or the existence of any lake was susi)ected, he speaks of tlie rivers 
which flow from the swamp, and adds — " All these [tlie named ri- 
vers] hide their heads, properly speaking, in the Dismal, there be- 
ing no signs of ihem above ground. For this reason there must be 
plentiful subterranean stores of water, to feed so many rivers — or else, 
the soil is so replete with thiselement, (b-ainetl fronj the higher land 
which surrounds it, that it can abundantly aflord these su])plies. The 
last alternative supi)osii.ion has been already shown to be errone- 
ous — and the flrst (of subterranean supplies of water,) is not only 
groundless — hut further, no such extraneous su[)plies of water are 
needed, to provide all the existing and continuing abundance and 
superfluity. This I will endeavor to show, in subsequent explana- 
tions and reasoning. For the present, I proceed to describe the ap- 
pearance and physical characters of the great peat swamps, and 
thence to deduce the manner of their formation, and their suppos- 
ed agricultural capabilities. 

Wluitever were the agencies ami producing causes of formation 
of this low and flat country in general, it must be supposed l)y all 
that the earliest shape and figure of the sui-face of the land, before it 
was partially covered by later deposits, was not ver^' different from 
what exists now under these later deposits, of alluvium, local drift, or 
peat growth, and accretions from ocean sand near tlie coast. It is 
not meant to assert that the elevation was f )riner]y and now the 
same. On the contrary, as will be shown, there are evidences of 
subsequent changes of elevation, by extensive subsidence, and it 
may be, also by upheaval. Bat independent of all such changes. 



168 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

the former upper earth had at first the like generally flat surface, 
and was composed (as now) of fine sand mostly — and in some cases 
of sand so extremely fine, as to make a soil of very close and stiff 
texture. These flats, near to the coast, were also generally and ne- 
cessarily poor, previous to any later deposition thereon of richer 
earth, or putrescent matters. On such broad and flat surfaces, as 
the central parts of the interval low ridges between the different ri- 
vers, there would be also many and separate small and shallow ba- 
sins, having no natural outlets deep enough to drain them over the 
surface, and which therefore would hold the superfluous rain water, 
which fell thereon, until it could evaporate, or sink into the earth 
below. Soon, plants would begin to grow, and in due time the 
species of pine, which of all trees is best suited to such low. sandy, 
and poor, but generally not very wet land — though also capable of 
withstanding the injurious efi'ects of water for a long time. This is the 
(pinus tceda,) " loblolly," "fox-tail," or " old-field" pine which, in 
lower Virginia and North Carolina, so generally covers, as second 
growth, the poorest worn-out fields — and also as well grows still better 
(though not as exclusively,) in original forests on low and miry lands. 
This tree, more than any other kind, would readily grow on the 
soils and surface supposed — sandy, poor, low, and generally moist, 
though without visible springs, bringing any streams or even oozes 
to the surface, and where standing pools of rain-water did not re- 
main very long. These pines, when exclusively occupying the land, 
(as they propably would in these cases,) stand very close together — 
and whether young and small, or when standing as thinly as requir- 
ed for their old and very large growth, in all cases they make a close 
shade, both in winter and summer. Their dropped leaves cover 
the ground more abundantly than those of any other tree, even of 
the pine family, because they strongly resist decomposition. On 
poor land, covered by this species of pine, the leaves dropped in 
four or five successive years, may be on the ground at once, forming 
a thick and close cover of some inches deep. Still, after some time, 
sav five years, the decomposition of the oldest of these crops of 
leaves will be completed ; and thence forward, decomposition pro- 
ceeds as regularly, and to as full effect, as elsewhere. The differ- 
ence would be that five years would be required here to bring about 
as entire decomposition as would take place within one year or less, 



THE GllEAT SWAMPS OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 169 

in regard to other kind of trees, standing on rich and calcareous 
soils. On such poor and pine-covo'cd hind as is under considera- 
tion, ifdrj, though at any one tijiie there may bean accumulation 
of ail the leaves dropped in the last few years, no portion of them 
will remain permanently undecomposed, and therefore the accumu- 
lati'in cannot continue to increase — and therefore, in such cases, 
and on dry laud there can be no formation of peat. 

But continued moisture of the air, and still more, of continued 
wetnt-'ss of the soil and its cover, would bring in other agencies to re- 
sist decomposition — and causes for such changes would soon be of- 
fered. 

Whatever may be the cause or true theory, (whether such as I 
liave maintained elsewhere, or any other,) the facts are unquestion- 
able that a bed of very pui-e sand underlies nearly all the land of 
the low country, at a fevv feet below the surface, and that that sand- 
bed is generally glutted with water to its top — or at any rate, and 
at all times, water rises in it to. and is permanently at, a little below 
its top. In such shallow depressions of sandy surface as have been 
supposed to exist, the general level of this water in the sand-bed 
would be just so much nearer the surface of the land as that surface 
was depressed. When rains fell on the depression, the surplus 
water would filtrate through the earth until reaching the sand glut- 
ted with water below. It could sink no lower, because no more 
water could be there taken up by sand already glutted. This ad 
ditional supply of water could only be removed by its passing off 
on nearly a level, to the nearest deep river beds, or to other deep 
depressions — and as slowly as water must pass through fine sand. 
Under such circumstances, with the supposed thick cover of rotting 
and unrotted pine leaves on the surface of the earth, and the con- 
tinual shade, it would not belong before the earth, from the water- 
glutted sand below to the surface, would become and remain per- 
manently damp and moist, and finally wet — which would so much 
the more retard the sinking by percolation of the subsequent 
rains — which would keep the rain-water so much longer on the sur- 
face, saturating the coat of leaves, and sometimes forming tempora- 
ry shallow pools above them — and all these things would serve to 
increase evaporation and its effect, of inducing colder tempature — 

3f 



170 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &.C. 

and to provide for the occurrence of more rain and dew — and to 
strengthen all the causes for the formation of peat. In the wettest 
spots, and in all the deepest depressions; where the stagnant rain-wa- 
ter remained longest, the bog-moss would begin to grow, and would 
increase as circumstances favored its growth. The soaked pine 
leaves would supply acid extract — serving to retard the decomposi- 
tion of all vegetable matters. The bog-moss (,'<phag?ium palustre,} 
contains tannin, which being yielded to the water by the decay of 
the moss, would liave still more antiseptic operation (or would the 
more resist decomposition,) than the acid alone, if without tannin. 
So long as the shallow stagnant pools, or other water at the surface, 
did not remain through droughts, the growth o^ sphagnum might be 
irreo-ular and uncertain. But with the abiding moisture which 
could not fail to occur later, that plant would cover the whole of 
the shaded surface, and by its death and decay, and peculiar fitness 
for this end, would more and more increase the accumulation of veg- 
etable matter, and prevent its complete decomposition — and the 
remaining and increase of such vegetable material is simply the 
growth of peat. 

The foregoing reasoning will serve to explain why the formation 
of peat, in countries where it is of rare occurrence, should be con- 
fined to particular places, and even to very small spaces in the high- 
er lands of the tide-water region, when numerous other places might 
seem to cursory observation, to be similar, and to afford equal facil- 
ities for the formation. 

It was before stated as a fact known even now to very few pro- 
prietoi*s and residents, that, besides the great bodies especially under 
consideration, there are numerous small patches of peat to be found, 
and where its existence, and its characteristics are not known, and 
if known, its value to the farm, would not be appreciated. Yet as 
an abundant source of organic material, for compost manure, such 
supplies of peat might be of great value to proprietors who would 
know how to put the material to proper use. To such persons it 
will be useful to indicate the causes of such formations of peat, and 
of course to indicate the circumstances and particular localities in 
which it shall be sought. 

It has been shown that the great under-lying bed of water-glutted 
sand, when approaching near to the surface of the land, is of import- 



THE GREAT SWAMPS OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 171 

ant operation in commencing and promoting the growth of peat. 
In the higher and more hilly tide-water lands of the southern states, 
I believe that this wet sand-bed, at or near the surface, is an indis- 
pensable condition, to the formation of peat ; and that with 
this condition, peat will always be formed, if there are also the 
conditions of shade, and enough vegetable dead matter for a begin- 
nmg Such conditions are usually presented in the narrow and flat 
bottoms of natural valleys, of sandy soil and sub-soil, long covered 
or shaded by forest trees. The peat is usually thin, a black and 
semi-fluid mire, in which no animal could stand, but for the sup- 
port of the roots of the growing water-bushes and grass, or after 
sirdcino; to the solid sand below. Such narrow bottoms are almost 
always the sources of springs, or oozing water, which is an addi- 
tional cause of general wetness, of the ground, and of greater ear- 
ly tendency to produce peat. In fewer cases, much larger 
surfaces of peat have been formed in originally lower parts of 
broad and rich bottoms. In such cases, it has usually occur- 
red, after the whole bottom had been drained, cleared, and 
brought under culture, that the existence of the peat was first 
discovered by the cultivator, (though its true character still remain- 
ed unknown,) by the peculiar and bad qualities of the soil for til- 
lage and production. In such cases, the unproductive soil for til- 
lage would be of great value as material for compost manure, 
to be profitably applied to more than a hundred times as much 
space. 

When a first cover of peat had been formed, where any of the 
great swamps now are, of but a few inches thick, this would add 
new and great force to the agents of its first production — and this 
force would continue to increase with the increased thickness of 
the peat. This substance holds water like a sponge, and retains it 
in very great quantity, (as will be shown presently — ) and the 
thicker the peat, the more rain-water would be absorbed, and the 
longer it would be retained — or the less would be yielded to evap- 
oration, or by percolation. 

This, with merely the continuance and the necessary strengthen 
ing and increase of these natural conditions and causes, peat, where 
once thus beginning to form, would continue to increase in thick- 



172 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

ness — and to retain more water throughout its mass, permanent- 
ly. But the growth would not only be in height, but also in 
breadth. Suppose the growth (as above deseribed) to have spread 
over a shallow basin, say to the depth of two feet, and that the 
margin of the peat was bounded by firm land, rising a little higher 
than the bottom of the previous basin, though then sometliing low- 
er than the new-formed patch of peat. The peat being glutted 
with water, whenever receiving a surplus, from more rain, would 
necessarily have as much water pressed outward, to seek discharge 
at the lowest levels of the peat, which would be at its outsides. 
This escaping water would be discharged upon the nearest adjacent 
firm soil — and this addition to its previous natural moisture, as well 
as the continued contact of the formed peat, would fit such ground 
for the same growth on its surface also. Thus, the formation 
would extend in breadth, in every direction, unless where reacliing 
water, too deep for peat plants to grow in, or otherwise coarse and 
dry sand, on steep slopes, on which water, or enough moisture could 
not be retained. Thus, we may see that the first-formed and neigh- 
boring small patches, in the shallow basins, would spread until unit- 
ing with each other, across the higher intervals — and that, in such 
immense length of time as would be required, the peat formation 
would spread over broad spaces, and of great depth. Still the 
srrowth would be far slower here than in more favorable climates, 
where a much larger proportion of dead vegetable matter would 
remain undecomposed. If, for example, in Scotland one-tenth of 
all the year's droppmgs of dead vegetable matter is decomposed 
the next summer, and nine-tenths remain undecomposed — and 
that here, nine-tenths would be decomposed, and only one-tenth 
remain, — it is evident that the first growth of peat in the former 
country would be as much in one year, as would be here in nine 
years. 

In the foregoing supposed circumstances, before much thickness 
of peat could have been formed, the first growth of pines, (which 
had preceded and originated the peat,) would have gradually died 
out, and their place would have been occupied by real aquatic 
trees and other plants. For though this kind of pine (p. tada,) is 



THE GREAT SWAMPS OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 173 

capable of living on land of very low level compared to the neigh- 
boring standing iieight of water, and even if standing in a thin 
coat of peat — and can undergo irregular and rare overflows ot salt 
water, (from storm-tides,) without apparent damage, still this ])ine 
is not an aquatic tree, and does not thrive, or usually live long, in a 
real deep and miry peat soil, (as does the pond pine, or 2)i/ius acrotl- 
na.) Juniper trees (white cedar,) seem the best adapted to flourish 
in deep and true peat soils. And even these are partly rooted in 
the original and solid earth below. 

The successive growths and deaths, and falling and subsequent 
covering of the trunks and limbs of the aquatic trees — and their 
being preserved from rotting by being kept always wet, and most- 
ly buried — served to supply much of the materials, and the thick- 
ness of the peat swamps. Everywhere under the surface, and at 
various depths, there are to be found the bodies .of trees, and gen- 
erally in great quantity. When the canal was dug to drain Pungo 
lake, (a work ordered by the government of North Carolina,) the 
excavation exposed three successive and separate layers of fallen 
and buried trunks of trees, of different kinds. The upper layer 
^which was entirely buried and hidden by the covering swamp 
earth,) was of pine trees — (and these I infer were of the species 
P. serodna, which kind only prefers the wettest and peaty soil — ) 
the next layer was of cypress, and the lowest of juniper trees. I 
learned these facts from the chief engineer M;ijor Walter Gwynn, 
and also from Col. William B. Whitehead, who was a contractor to 
execute the work. The canal dug through the Mattamuskeet 
savanna land, (then bare of trees,) tor the purpose of furnishing 
earth, by the excavation, to make an embankment for the public 
road, was so full of buried trunks and limbs of trees, as I heard 
from a gentleman who saw the wood lying along the canal, that 
he thought it would have been difficult to replace it in the canal, 
so that all would be, as before, below the former surface. 

As the growth of a body of peat extended in breadth (as above 
explained,) the greater thickness would still be of the central parts; 
not only because there the formation had been much longest in pro- 
gress, but also because all the conditions necessary for the growth 



174 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &e. 

were there the most favorable. How many centuries of centuries 
might be required, in this unfavorable climate for the formation of 
any stated thickness or breadth of peat, is beyond all powers of es- 
timation. But with time enough, and witliout any counteracting 
circumstance, or agency, (as of fire, after its being introduced by 
man, ) we can scarcely phice limits to the extension of the growth 
of peat, in both depth and breadth, while there was a low and flat 
country for it to spread over. 

It has been shown that, from the manner of its formation, a great 
peat bog would usually become highest in its central parts, even if . 
the primitive surface there had been as low as, or lower in level 
than the present firm margins of the swamp. But such lower level 
would not be necessary for the origin and progress of the peat for- 
mation. It might as well commence in any slight basin-shaped 
depression, if moist enough, on the former highest level surface — 
and the formation of peat thence be spread over lower surfaces. 
This seems to have been the course in some localities. For exam- 
ple, the layers of clay and sand, which lie under the upper peaty 
layer in the drained land at Lake Scuppernong, are, respectively, 
(like the covering swamp-soil,) of highest levels near the lake, 
which is on the interior and highest iilateau of the great swamp. 

So far I have claimed no greater supply of water, from rains 
alone falling immediately on the land, than abundant for the forma- 
tion of peat. But even if this has been made out, and clearly, still 
it may be denied that so much rain, superfluous for this operation, 
would be in excess, as to supply the regular flow of all the many 
rivers discharging the waters from these great swamps. I will 
attempt, and trust successfully, to show that, the rain alone, 
falling within the area in question, is enough for this supply 
also. 

On the low and flat but firm and cultivated lands of lower Vir- 
ginia and North Carolina, and where either an inpervious subsoil, 
or (more generally,) a water-glutted inferior sand-bed, prevents 
much of the surplus rain-water from sinking, and escaping by down- 
ward filtration, every farmer there knows, that there is an annual ex- 
cess of rain-water, which he must discharge by ditches, or he would 



THE GREAT SWAMPS OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. J7-5 

rarely be able to make a crop, because of the too great wetness of 
the fields. Thus every farmer's common sense and observation, 
would prove to him that there is an average excess of rain, more 
than the land can absorb, and which excess passes off, by artificial 
or natural depressions, into the rivers. 

But scientific and careful observations have been made, by aid 
of w^hich we can approach nearer to precise results. According to 
the voluminous reports of Meteorological observations, (made at all 
the military posts of the United States, for the then preceding 
twelve years, and) published by order of Congress, the general an- 
nual average quantity of rain in lower Virginia is thirty-five inches, 
and in the southern part of lower North Carolina, forty-five inches. 
The chart on which these general average quantities are so marked, 
has the former of these numbers north of the Dismal Swamp, and 
the latter, south of Pamlico sound. Therefore, for the latitudes 
of the great swamps between, we may assume the medium, of these 
quantities, or forty inches, as the average yearly quantity of rain. 
Of the whole amount of rain-water that falls,-'a portion is taken up 
and used to nourish plants ; another portion (in most cases,) sinks 
by filtration into the earth and another portion passes oif into the 
air by evaporation, and the remaining quantity flows oflf over the 
surface, and serves to supply the streams. The observations by 
which the general results (shown in the chart referred to,) were ob- 
tained, of course must have been made, not in the swamps, but on 
localities of dry land, inhabited, and partially cleared and under 
tillage. And it should be noticed, that on such different surfaces, 
even if not far distant the circumstances of the respective quantity 
of rain and its manner of escape, would be very difl^erent. The 
general tall and dense forest cover of the great swamps would more 
attract the clouds, and so obtain more rain — and also, by excluding 
sun and winds, would prevent much evaporation that would occur 
on open and exposed surfaces. Of escape of the fallen rain-water 
by downward filtration, there could be none — because generally 
the surface, and always the deeper-lying swamp-soil is already glut- 
ted with water, and therefore no more can pass down, or get be- 
neath and out of the swamp earth by downward percolation. 



176 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, SlC. 

These, and also other minor causes, would together sei-ve to increase 
the quantity of rain, or other moisture supplied to the swamps, and 
to lessen evaporation, and prevent escape of water by downward 
filtration ; and from all three of these conditions, there would be so 
nmch the greater residue of water to flow off, and thereby to swell, 
or entirely supply the rivers having their head sources in the 
swamps. No estimate can be made of the quantity of water ta- 
ken up by the living trees and other vegetation of the swamps. 
But its excess, (over what the growth of grass, would take up,) pro- 
bably would not be more than enough to counterbalance the les- 
sening of evaporation from the earth, by sun and wind, caused by 
this sheltering forest growth. On that assumption, then the 
only modes of escape for all this yearly supply of forty inches 
depth of rain-water, are, by flowing off, in stieams, and by evapo- 
ration from the wet soil. The rate of the latter operation, in some 
other localities, has been carefully measured — and the results, al- 
lowing for all differences of the conditions, will enable us, by 
comparison, to approach the like results in the cases under consid- 
eration. 

From Rees' Cyclopaedia, article " Evaporation" is copied the 
following interesting observations of facts : 

"With respect to the natural evaporation of water from the surface of the earth, 
the experiments of Mr. Hoyle and M»-. Dal ton, of Manchester, are near the only 
ones that are sufficiently numerous from which to draw any conclusions. They 
took a cylindrical vessel of tinned iron ten inches in diameter and three feet deep ; 
there were two pipes soldered into il, one at the bottom, the other at the top, for 
the water to run off into bottles ; the vessel was filled with gravel, sand, and soil, 
and subsequent'y the soil was covered with grass and other living vegetables. It 
was nearly buried in the ground in an open situation and provision made for plac- 
ing bottles to the two pipes. In this manner it was exposed to receive the rain, 
and to suffer evaporation from the surface, the same on the surrounding green 
ground. A re^rular register was kept of the water which percolat<^d through the 
soil and ground into the bottles, and a rain gauge of the same surface was kept 
close by, for the sake of comparison. The results are contained in the table below, 
together with the mean evaporation from a like surface of water for the three suc- 
ceeding years." 



THE GRKAT SWAMPS 01^ THE ATLANTIC COAST. 



177 



Water [escaping] through the two pipes. 



179G 1797 1798 



January, - 

February, 

March, 

April, - 

May, 

June, - 

July, 

August, 

September, 

October, 

November, 

December, 



Rain, 

Evaporation, 



Inch. 

1.90 

1.78 

.43 

.22 

2.03 

.17 

.15 



.20 



G.88 
30.63 



23.75 



Inch. 
.68 
.92 
.07 
.30 

2.44 
.73 
.03 

.98 

.68 

1.04 

3.08 



10.95 

38.79 



27.84 



Inch. 

1.77 

1.12 

.34 

.18 
.01 



.50 



1.59 

1.88 



7.39 
51.26 



23.87 



Inch 

1.45 

1.27 

.28 

.23 

1.49 

.30 

.06 

.17 

.33 

.23 

.88 

1.72 



8.41 



K 



Inch. 
2.46 
1.80 
.90 
1.72 
4.18 
2.48 
4.15 
3.55 
3.28 
2.90 
2.93 
3.20 



3.3.55 






Inch 
1.01 
.53 
.6i 
1.49 
2.69 
2.18 
4.01) 
3.38 
2.95 
2.67 
2.05 
1.48 



25.14 



c ^ 

c! 3 
V o 

Inch. 
1.50 
2.03 
350 
4.50 
4.96 
6.49 
5.6.^ 
6.06 
3.90 
2 35 
2 04 
1.50 

44.43 



" From this table it appears that the evaporation from a surface of water is near- 
ly twice as much as from green ground ; also that about eight or nine inchea of 
rain are left for the supply of springs and rivers. This surplus of water must b« 
evaporated from the sea and return to it again by the rivers." 

Where these observations were made, (in Manchester, England,) 
less rain falls than in this region — and, from the lower temperature 
of the summers, and less sunshine in England, there must be less 
evaporation, under like circumstances of soil, water and exposure. 
But on the other hand, the exposure to the open air, and to winds, 
and to so much of heat and sunshine as the climate afforded, was 
far greater in the subject of these scientific observations than are 
offered in our forest-covered swamps. And under and through the 
covering of growing and exposed grass, perhaps there was as much 
water taken up and conducted off by the plants (making part of 
the whole loss by evaporation,) as by the tall and dense forests, or 
other luxuriant growth of our great swamps. And if the different 
circumstances of the two localities are deemed balanced, and equal, 
then it appears that the mean depth of rain was 33.55 inches ; the 
mean loss by evaporation, 25.14 inches ; and the mean discharge 



23 



178 SKETCHES OF LOWER NOKTH CAROLINA, 4cC. 

of water by flowing off, was 8.41 inches. This last quantity all 
goes to supply the streams and rivers. And in such a locality as 
the great swamp region lying between Albeinarle and Pamlico 
sounds, which can receive no streams or rain-floods from without, 
this quantity of water is sufficient to supply the continual flow and 
discharge into the sounds, of all the rivers and smaller streams 
which have their only sources in the swamps. The Dismal Swamp, 
though its supply of water, and that for its rivers, is for much the 
larger part derived immediately from rain, still it has also a small 
additional supply in streams from without. It is therefore that the 
amount of water constantly discharged from this swamp, is still 
more abundant than that from the other and larger swamps. 

Before I knew of the existence of the above obsciTations, or where 
to refer to any such facts or authorities, I had myself made an ex- 
periment to test the rate of evaporation, from water, and under 
shade. On July 25th, 18-56, a cylindrical glass vessel, about five 
inches in diameter, was filled with water six and a-half inches deep^ 
which was within one inch of the top of the vessel — and placed 
over the mantle of ni}' bed-chamber. The room was often open,, 
and generally all of every warm and clear day. For nearly all tlie 
time of observation, the shutters of the south window remained 
open, even when the window was not raised, so as to admit sun- 
shine. But the sunshine did not ajDproach near to the water ; and 
it was, by the vessel as well as its position, secured fiom the access- 
of winds. After cold weather, fire was sometimes made in the 
the fire-place, at night and morning only — but not generally. Aii! 
open iron wire screen, (a common dish-cover) was placed over the 
vessel to exclude flies. But this was removed on November 25th.. 
The vessel remained thus situated until it was broken by the freez- 
ing of the water in the severe cold weather of January 1857. The 
^§i,test observation made was on January 8th, after five and a-half 
months of exposure, when the whole loss by evaporation was only 
two andone-thirdinches — equal to 5.05 inches for a year. Of course, 
in a situation thus protected from heat, and sun and wind, this 
small amount of evaporation is no indication of what would be the 
measure, when exposed in open air, to sun and wind. Under these 



TUK GIfEAT SWAMPS OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 179 

latter circumstances, (as I infer they were,) the observations above 
quoted made the mean loss of water (alone) in a year, 44.43 inches 
— wiiich is nearly nine times as much as in my trial. Now, be- 
tween these remote extremes of exposure and measures of evapora- 
tion, the circumstances of standing pools in the great swamps may 
be supposed to be a medium — that is, that the exposure to evapo- 
ration there is as much less than in the English observations, as it is 
greater, and more operative, than in my experiment. Then, on 
this ground, if taking a mean betw^een the two for the loss by eva- 
jioration of w^uter, in the low and sheltered swamps, that quantity 
will be 24.74 inches ; and, on the same premises, and proportional 
reduction, instead of 25.14 inches, the mean evaporation of water 
from ground m the English experiments, and that Irom the soil of 
the swamp lands, would be about fourteen inches only. Deduct- 
ing the fourteen inciies of evaporation from the forty inches of annual 
supply of rain, leaves twenty-six inches, or more than half to supplv 
rivers and other streams. But such calculations and estimates, 
even though based partly on certain and accurate grounds, are 
doubtful ; and these may not be worth being thus noted. But 
even upon the sure and unquestionable premises, it can scarcely 
be questioned that the great swamps derive from the atmosphere 
and clouds alone, enough water to supply all they retain, and all 
that they discharge in rivers. 

There are some other circumstances not yet mentioned, or but 
slightly referred to, that seem to add to the power of swamp soils to 
attract and retain moisture, and t' ence to supply greater and con- 
tinuing and regular quantities to the issuing streams. 

When peat has been formed, the proportion of water absorbed 
and held, in the ground, will be more and more increased, com- 
pared to the quantity lost by evaporation, in proportion as the 
peat is increased in thickness. This substance, when dry, will 
absorb and hold a very great quantity of water. For trial of this 
power, I filled with peat a tin box, after having punctured many 
small holes, (outward) through the bottom. Water in excess was 
then poured over the peat, and the box left to stand on a support 
which permitted the superfluous water to pass away freely. After 
four hours, aud when all dripping or exuding of water had ceas- 



1S# SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, AC. 

ed, the peat was weighed, and (deductiug the known weight of 
the box,) made 5463 grains Subsequently it was careful!}' dried, 
and as thoroughly as could be, (though certainly not perfectly) 
And it then weighed 1087 grains. Thus this peat had absorbed 
and retained, rather more than four times as much weight of wa- 
ter as the weight of the dry peat. 

But, on very broad and nearly level surfaces of peat, there is not 
only as much water held as the peat can permanently retain, by 
its great absorbing force, but this certain quantity may be great- 
ly increased, for transient though long times, during which, this 
extra quantity of water is slowly working its passage by percola- 
tion, and nearly on a level, to find issues for discharge. Thus, 
the heavy rains, which, when falling on other lands, speedily pass 
oft", on a peat swamp would be received into the before saturated 
soil, and the excess might not be entirely pushed out into the dis- 
tant depressions and rivers, for months thereafter. And thus, by 
this long detention of any surplus of rain water, more than the 
p3at can permanently retain, the supply to the sources of the ri- 
vers is equalized, and their volumes kept nearly uniform through- 
out both dry and wet seasons.* 

The tall and far spread forest growth of the great peat swamps 



♦ Tho recorded account of the ^cm^rkable circumstances of " Solw:iy Moss," a peat 
bog in Cumberland, England, offers a striking illustration of the immense surplus of rain 
■»rat«r which peat bogs are enabled to drink up and retain for a time, over and above tho 
Tery large proportion of water which they retain permanently and strongly. This ac- 
count was published, soon after the occurrence, in the "Scots' Magazine," for December 
1771, and re-published in the "Farmers' Kegister," at p. 504 of Vol IV. Solway Moss 
(or bog) was about two miles by one and a-half, containing someone thousand four hundred 
acres. The surface of the bog was elevated at from three to nine feet above tho level of 
the surrounding firm, and cultivated land. After a remarbably wet season, when the deep 
psat soil was surcharged with more rain water than it could retain even for the usual slow 
discharge, the coat of the distended bog bursted like a huge tumor, on its lower side, and 
tho fluid mire flowed out, like liquid lava from a volcano, and covered over the adjacent 
fXrms and tenements. Within twenty-four hours, four hundred acres of rich arable land 
was thui covered, to the depth of from three to fifteen feet — and afterwards, the extended 
flood of peat mire covered as much more laud, or eight hundred acres in all the previous 
home and place of agricultural labor of one hundred and ten inhabitants. The remedy 
proposed was to drain the new or transported peat, at a future time, and then to burn it 
«ff, to uncover the buried lands — and also, to drain and burn the remaining old bog, to 
provont a recurrence of the like disaster. 



THE GREAT SWAMPS OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 181 

in this country serve to attract the clouds, and to make rain there- 
on more frequent and abundant, than on lands generally cleared for 
tillage. The universally wet saturated soil, however retentive of 
its water, would still furnish much to evaporation ; and this, go- 
ing on under a dense shade, of tall trees and thick undergrowth, 
and where the wind could scarcely penetrate, to remove and 
change the stagnant air, would keep the air always humid, and 
ready to discharge its surplus load of moisture, in dew, on the 
same ground. 

The surplus water supplied by rains, which the surcharged 
spongy peat soil could not imbibe, or retain long, would seek for 
the lowest passages to lower places of final discharge. When 
flowing over the swamp, these sluggish waters would wind about, 
and be continually changed in direction, by the numerous ob- 
structions presented on the generally leval surface. Channels, 
thus formed, would necessarily be very crooked, and no broader 
(or deeper, at first) than the usual volume of the passing water 
required. As water thus passing over the surface, soaking through 
the thick carpet of bog moss, or more obstructed by exposed roots 
and fallen trunks of trees, would make very slow progress, these 
supplies also would be so protracted, as to render their several 
discharges continuous, and more regular than that of any small 
streams proceeding from and through dry lands. 

In time, the channels or beds of these smaller bog streams 
would be always covered by water, and of sufficient depth to pre- 
vent any moss, or other larger plants growing therein. Then 
would begin another incident or process, of the general peat-bog 
formation, of which the efiects are everywhere to be seen, and 
have been deemed unaccountable. The channels of the sluggish 
streams, which rise in and pass over the great bogs, and serve to 
discharge their black waters, are not only crooked and narrow, 
but generally also deep, out of all proportion to the greatest 
amount of water which it is the only function of these channels 
to convey and discharge. A depth of ten feet is not uncommon, 
and in some cases it is thirty feet, where one foot would be 
enough to pass all the water that ever flows along the channel. 
As these streams must have worn their own passage-ways, orig- 



182 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &.C. 

iiially, why was this great ^pth of excavation made so uselessly ? 
And how could it have been made, by so little water, flowing 
so slowly, and to depths so much below the present surface level 
of the neighbi>ring waters — and in many cases, lower than the 
helo-lit of the ocean tides ? 

The depth of these channels of swamp streams and rivers, com- 
pared to the elevation of their peaty margins, must be due to one 
or both of the two ditferent causes. The tirst in operation, is the 
manner of the growing of the living moss, and the fornuition of 
peat by its decay. The growth extends and presses to the very 
edo*e of the water, but cannot spread farther in that direction 
Thereafter, the growth, by the deposition of dead materials, is ex- 
tended upward only. Thus, the elevation of the margins, 
or banks of the streams continue to grow in height (with 
the peet surface generally) while the bottoms of the channels, 
havinf no such additions, and also receiving no alluvial or 
other earthy matter, remained as low as at first, or nearly 
so. 

So much for the depth of these channels, compared to the 
heio-ht of their present banks, and the surface generally of the 
peat. But their depth below the level of the neighboring open 
waters, and in some cases even below the sea-water, needs anoth- 
er producing cause. And this is furnished, (and also other strange 
facts are explained,) in the supposition of a former subsidence, 
including the whole of this great swamp region, which occurred 
in lon^ passed time, but much later than the beginning of the 
peat formation. I will proceed to state some of the many proofs, 
which, in my opinion, go to establish the fact of extensive and 
considerable subsidence. 

In many parts of the swamps, in the digging of canals or deep 
ditches, the trunks of dead and fallen juniper or cypress trees, 
and also stumps, showing the crown, or junction, of the upper 
roots, have been found to the greatest depth reached in the peat 
formation. This, if presented alone, would only prove the gradu- 
al growth and deposition of the materials, and accumulation of 
the peaty soil, as already assumed and mentioned. The heart 
wood of juniper and cypress, when thus buried, is indestructible 



THE GREAT SWAMPS OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 183 

by rotting. Tlierefore, peat may have been forming for thonsands 
of years, and liave gained many feet in higher growth and 
thickness, since the oldest of tliese trees were prostrated. But in 
many cases, these trees and stumps, indicating clearly tlie former 
much lower level of surface on which these trees grew, are found 
under ground of which the present surface is too low to bear such 
trees — and, also, at levels lower than the present height of the salt 
water of Pamlico sound, and (as inferred,) below the height of or- 
dinary flood tide of the nearest part of the ocean. Of course no 
trees could have grown, or any peat have been formed, so low — 
and, therefore, the peat and the earth below, with all it bore, must 
have subsided below its former level. In the canal extendino" 
from the border of Mattamuskeet lake to connect with Alligator 
river, in the " savanna land," the surface of which is not eighteen 
inches above the height of the water, and which surface is now 
too low for even junipers to grow on, the standing stumps of ju- 
niper trees were found at some depth below the present surface . 
and also below the level of the surface of the water, as kept up by 
the height of the back water of Alligator river.* 

In addition to this proof of former subsidence, furnished by nu- 



* After the writing of this article, I heard from Col. K. T. Paine, of Edcnton, Xorth 
Carolina, of another class of facts which still more fully prove subsidence in this region, 
Albemarle sound is from eighteen to twenty feet deep, and all the broad rivers and large 
creeks which empty therein are still deeper. In all these rivers and creeks, to the depth 
of twenty feet, or more, there are found upright stuirps of trees, imbedded and firmly fixect 
by their roots, in thebottomi and in their natural position, so as to be evidently now in the' 
soil where they grew. The like stumps are in tie bottom of Albemarle sound, and in Pam- 
lico sound, and in water of as great depth, where such depth is found. The numerous aniJ 
long fishing seines sweep over the bottoms of nearly all the deep waters of the rivers and 
of large spaces of the sounds, and more than a mile from the shores. The necessity for 
cleaning the bottoms sw pt over by the seines, has shown the vast number of the sub- 
merged stumps, and their deep and fixed position. In deep water, the stumps are blast- 
ed, and loosened in the earth, by gunpowder. They are most numerous on bottoms where 
projecting points of swamp forest (now standing) extend to the water — and in such cases 
the stump.s taken from beneath the water are of species similar to the neighboring trees 
of cypress or juniper. In some cases the stumps were of pisne trees. Gol. Paine saw a 
number of large stumps w, i. had been recently taken up from below water twenty feet 
in depth, in North river, which enters the Albemarle next to Currituck sound. All these 
facts clearly prove subsidence of the original swamp surface, to as low as twenty feet be- 
low the present height of water of the sound — and nearly as much below the surface of 
the ocean. 



184 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

merous facts such as stated in the foregoing passage, there were 
learned others, still more decisive, which show a still earlier and 
lower subsidence of the earliest formed peat. The only means 
available near Lake Mattarauskeet, for learning the kinds and 
changes of earth much below the surface, were offered in the ex- 
cavations for wells. As the subject, in this aspect, had excited 
no interest there, no person had given to it such attention, or had 
accurately measured the thickness of the different strata penetrat- 
ed. Still, as almost every person had dug one or more wells, and 
had general remembrance ( f the series and kinds of earth dug 
through, there was much information to be had, I heard particu- 
lar statements of but few such diggings ; but most of these were 
of very recent excavation, and of two of which the earth taken 
out, wholly or in part, still remained around the wells, un- 
changed even by rain, so as to show the most important speci- 
mens. 

The wells dug on the drained swamp lands generally yield 
enough water, (but rarely otherwise than of bad flavor,) within 
twelve or fourteen feet of the surface; and no more depth was 
sought, except to make a reservoir below, deep enough to retain 
water to draw from at all times. Therefore the wells are rarely 
more than fifteen feet deep. The lower strata are not always 
alike. But generally, after penetrating through the universal up- 
per peaty soil, and which varies in thickness from eighteen inches 
to more than six feet, (usually about three feet) the digging for 
each well reached compact and dry sand, like that at the bottom 
of the lake, and afterwards, a quicksand or mire, apparently for- 
merly a marsh soil, and containing remains of rushes. A firm 
and tough mixture of sand and clay, (not mixed intimately,) is in 
some cases next to the upper peaty soil, in place of the almost 
pure sand which has the same position in other neighboring places. 
And this clay, as it is there called, is reached in some parts 
of all ditches of three or three and a-half feet deep. I belive 
that it is this same continuous bed, in some cases more of sand, 
and in others, clayey, which underlies the surface-soil, or upper 
peaty formation, throughout all the swamp region around Lake 
Mattamuskeet. There are other beds of lower earth often met 



THE GliEAT SWAMPS OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 185 

with, whicli are not general. Wlieu wells have been dug as low 
as eighteen feet, oyster shells have sometimes been found at about 
that depth — which would show that there had been once the bot- 
tom of the sea, or a salt-water estuaiy. 

Bat the most remarkable fact learned, wasof two wells recently 
dug on the highest ground, which is called the " ridge."' This 
slight elevation is narrow, and runs from Lake Landing, where 
it parts from the former margin of the lake (before it was partially 
drained,) in a curve, like the arc of a circle, and unites again with 
the old border of the lake, at seven to nine miles distance. The 
peaty soil on this ridge is thinner, (in some caces not more than twelve 
inches thick,) and the next layer below is of nearly pure and fine 
sand, precisely such as makes the bottom of the lake. Yet with- 
in a short distance from, and parallel to this "ridge," the upper 
swamp or j)eat soil is the thickest thereabout, being six feet or 
more. Of the two wells recently dug in this ridge, one had been 
excavated and observed with care, and of the other, the recently 
dug earth still was lying around, and subject (as well as specimens 
before preserved) to my personal examination. The latter (Dr. 
Sparrow's well,) passed through 

(«) 1 1-2 feet of the ordinary black peaty soil — 

(b) 4 1-2 feet of dry sand, firm, very fine, white, and pure, ex- 
cept having many thin lamhm of former fine peat sediment, 
each one soon running out to nothing, This sand, on a per- 
pendicular section, shows numerous fine waving lines, as if 
of sediment left by water in gentle motion — 

[a) 4 feet of black soil, part of pure peat formation, containing 
small roots, and the earth " in places," or w^here it was form- 
ed — changing to more clayey — and next 

{h) 1-2 foot clay — and next 

((•) quicksand, (or soft and fluid marsh mud, with water. 

Mr. Ensley's well, (the deepest known,) near to the same ridge, 
and within a mile of the preceding. 

{a) 7 to S feet of the usual black rich soil, peat formation. (Close 
by this layer is only one foot thick.) 

24 



18^ SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, AC. 

(6) 2 to 4 feet of firm sand, described (as b) above — 
1 to 4 feet more clayey, with some water — 

(c) 4 feet of quicksand, or soft and sticky mire, with many small 

roots 

(d) 4 feet of firm blue clay, of very fine texture, and cutting- 

smooth like hard soap — interspersed with some thin laminoi 
of fine black peat sediment — and some roots of trees. 
{a) 1 foot into black peat earth, without seeing any change 
thereof. 

Twenty-three feet dug in all. The next morning after the last 
digging, there was so much water in the well that its deeper dig- 
ging (as intended) was prevented. 

In both these cases, true peat was found in lower and more an- 
cient beds, and separated from the upper and newer 2:)eat, by beds 
of sand and clay, (and also other earths, in one case). These inter- 
posed beds of sand, &c., may have been of sedimentary or drift de- 
posit — or, otherwise, they may have been thrown over by the waves 
of the ocean, and of matter swept from its then higher bottom. 
There is much to support the latter view. The extreme fineness 
and purity of the sand — its laminated structure, the wavy lines of 
lamince, and the very thin layers of fine peat sediment, would indi- 
cate deposits made by the water of the ocean, or of the sound — and 
which deposits filled the void produced by the previous sudden sub- 
sidence of the land. Nothing but the entire absence of any re- 
mains of sea-shells in this sand seems to forbid the conclusion that 
the sand placed over the older and subsided peat, and below the up- 
per peat, is of oceanic origin. And, on this supposition, perhaps 
the absence of old sea-shells may be satisfoctorily accounted for. 
First — if what is now Pamlico sound, was then as now partially se- 
parated from the ocean, by a sand reef, then the sound waters 
would (as now)have butfew sea-shellfish, and therefore could sup- 
ply but few sea-shells in the sand. Next — even if shells had been 
more abundant, their long exposure to acid peat waters, with peat 
both below and above, may have caused the shells to be disolved 
and disappear. 

In a short time after the last sentences were written, I learned 



THE GREAT SWAMPS OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 187 

from observations made elsewhere, to attach still less importance 
to the fact of the absence of remains of sea-shells, as negative evi- 
dence against the former oceanic formation of land. On the broad- 
er part of the sand-reef, of North Carolina, on which stands the 
small village of Portsmouth, near Ocracoke Inlet, the soil, as of 
the whole of the long reef, unquestionably has been formed by sand 
thrown up at first by the waves of the ocean. On the interior, 
lower, and more recently formed and lower surface of the sand, 
which is still often covered by the high storm beds and waves of 
the ocean, there have been thus brought numerous shells of dead 
sea-fish. These shells must remain there, and be covered, in the 
course of time, by later accessions of sand. Though sea shell-fish 
are scarce on that part of the coast, and of course the dead shells, 
yet the continued slow supply is enough to make them very numer- 
ous on the lower and more recent sand flats. Yet on the higher 
and older ground, about the village, which had the same original 
formation, no remains of sea-shells are to be seen. And, in answer 
to my inquiries, I was then told that no sea-shells were ever found in 
digging any of the many shallow wells (rarely more than three to 
four feet deep,) which are dug m the village. If half of the former 
supply had remained, some would have been found in every such 
digging. The shells must have been dissolved, and made to disap- 
pear, by the operation of some chemical solvent power in the earth. 
In Pamlico sound, though it is salt water, there are no sea-shells ; 
or, at least, I could find none on the shore of the sound near Ports- 
mouth. Yet this should be a place most favorable to the presence 
and continued existence of the animals — because it is within. two or 
three miles of Ocracoke Inlet, which has long afforded a broad pas- 
sage for the entrance of the ocean water, at high tide and in storms, 
into the sound. The only shells which I there found were of a 
few species of animals belonging to estuaries of brackish wa- 
ter. 

In these sounds, then, we may be sure of the fonner presence of 
sea-shells, and of their later total disappearance, without being able 
to assign the cause of the remarkable change. But as to the same 
change in peat soils, or in the sands below peat beds, and always 



188 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

wet witli the peat water, the sure means for the entire disappear- 
ance of shells (if any had previously been present,) are not only 
easily to be conceived, or supposed, but are even unavoidable. Ac- 
cording to the grounds I long ago first assumed, and the reasons 
then offered, for the existence of vegetable acid in many ordinary 
soils,* there are still stronger evidences of the universal and larger 
formation of such acid in peat and peaty soils. It was supposed by 
earlier writers, and of higher authority, that these vegetable soils 
contained acids, vegetable and also mineral, before there had been 
any assertion or suspicion of there being any acid in ordinary soil, 
of principally earthy constitution. And since the doctrine of veg- 
etable acid in soil (other than peaty,) has been generally accepted, 
and fully admitted, by agricultural chemistry and scientific agricul- 
turists, it is in peat that all of these would seek for the most cer- 
tainly existing and largest proportion of vegetable acid, or the ma- 
terial of which it would certainly be formed at some later time, if 
natural causes were permitted to continue in operation. There- 
fore I need not adduce proofs or cite authorities, other than gener- 
ally to Thaer, Johnston, and other recent and distinguished agri- 
cultural chemists, to sustain any position that peaty soils more large- 
ly than any other soils, are always impregnated by vegetable acid — 
and, of course, likewise the water passing through them, and black- 
ened by other extracts. Sulphuric acid has also been supposed to 
be sometimes an ingredient of peat — which combining with iron, 
(alw^ays present,) wou'd favor sulphate of iron, or copperas, which 
is a poison to useful plants. With these acids, or acid products, 
always present in peats, it is very sure, and easy to be understood, 
that any shells, or other carbonate of lime, in small quantity, below 
the peat, and exposed to its water, would be certainly decomposed, 
and no longer be visible. 

It would seem, from these grounds, that the swamp waters, 
which have oozed through the peat soil, and which, as manifest 
both to sight and taste, are so full of its soluble matter, oueht 



* In 1821, in the first publication, as in every later edition of the " Essay on Calcare- 
ous Manarea." 



THE GREAT SWAMPS OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 189 

also to retain free acid, and which any capable chemist could easi- 
ly make manifest. But I have never heard of a proper trial by 
competent hands, nor of any such result reported. The water is all 
more or less impregnated, and its taste affected, by vegetable ex- 
tracts — but in very different manner. The water of Lake Drum- 
mond, though very dark colored, is perfectly clear. The strong 
flavor communicated to it by the juniper trees, is not disagreeable, 
and is even palatable to many who have been long accustomed to 
its use. In other swamp lakes, and in many particular places, the 
water varies in color and flavor. In some wells, the water is unfit for 
drinking because of its bad taste. In some, it even seems slightly acid 
to the taste. From one of these (near Fairfield, on Mattamuskeet,) 
which is called "the sour well," I brought a bottle of the water 
home, to test it by litmus paper. But it did not redden the paper 
— and, unless there was something wrong in my rough trial, it is 
to be inferred that there was no uncombined acid present. There 
are other proofs of the general presence of acid in the water of the 
Dismal Swamp canal, which is supplied by a feeder from Lake 
Drummond. I was informed, by the President of the canal compa- 
ny, that the iron hinges and other iron parts of the lock-gates are 
r-educed and destroyed by corroding very speedily, compared to the 
same operation in any other known canal. This greater effect can 
only be the result of the presence of acid in the water, or of some 
combination of acid that is readily decomposed to make a new com- 
pound with iron. 

This inferred infusion of acid, and in all its bearings, should be 
well considered in reference to the scheme now in agitation of bring- 
ing higher lying Dismal Swamp water, through pipes, to supply 
Portsmouth, the Navy Yard, and the shipping, for all purposes. 
The scheme is perfectly and easily practicable — the supply would be 
abundant for every purpose, (including the filling the dry dock,) — 
and the water of sufficiently good quality. But if there is any acid 
inpregnative, it would combine with and soon consume metal pipes — 
and perhaps thereby form salts, and to be passed off in the water, 
tiiat would be injurious to health, if ^not even poisonous] as drink. 
The substitution of earthern-W' are, or tile pipes, would serve to avoid 
this danger, if_the cause of such danger exists. But I have been 



190 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, AC. 

led to digress from my argument to maintain the former subsidence 
of the lower peat — which will now ])e resumed. 

Whatever may have been the manner, or cause, of the depositing 
of these interposed beds, separating the lower and upper beds of peat, 
that difficulty does not affect my position, viz : that the oldest peat^ 
formed necessarily higher than the level of the ocean, or the sound, 
had subsided below its former level, and also below the level of the 
sound and ocean waters. The present low level of the ancient peat 
places this position bejonrJ doubt. 

The lower peat, as seen in specimens, in its materials, textnre, and 
other marks, exhibits every appearance of peat in its original place 
of growth or formation. If it had been a deposit of peatsediment 
or fragments, which might have been washed off from a higher bed 
:and carried into low depths of the water, and there deposited, the 
appearance would have been entirely' and unmistakably different. 
Such sediment, washed up and suspended by the water of the lake, 
is continually carried along the course of the canal, and deposited 
by the more tranquil water, along the sides of the canal, and in 
Wysocking bay, into which the canal empties. Both the canal and 
the bay are thus much obstructed. The bay for some TO acres, is 
already filled by this sediment to the depth of five feet, and the port, 
already much injured, will soon be unfit for vessels to enter. This 
peat sediment is divided into the finest parts, and when dried, is of 
"uniform loose texture, much like fine black snuff. 

These two wells, only, showed the older peat below, separated by 
beds of sand, &c., from the upper and later formed peat. Of two 
other diggings, (which were made merely for my examination,) the 
strata will be also stated. On the lowest part of the then exposed 
or dry sand, of the former bottom of the lake, (now laid bare, b}^ its 
partial draining,) a pit was dug T feet deep — on a level 3 to 4 feet 
lower than that of the surface of the nearest peaty soil, (under cul- 
tivation,) bordering the former outline of the lake — and full 4 feet 
higher than the level of Pamlico sound. The strata reached were 
(5) 2 1-2 teet of firm and fine white sand, the general bottom of 
the lake — laminated in their wavy planes, often separated 
by other th'inuev la7mnce, of limited superficial extent, of fine 
peat sediment — with which, as light suspended matter, the 
reduced water of the lake is always turbid— 
2 1-2 feet of wet sand, yielding some water — 



THE GREAT SWAMPS OP THE ATLANTIC COAST. ]91 

{d) 1 foot of firm compact blue clay — 

(e) 1 foot of same in thin layers, more and xwovo, thin as descend- 
ing, and separated by thinner layers of sand. liotted rushes 
and their roots therein. When dried tlie clay layers parted, 
showing pure sand between. 
The thickest of the clay layers one fifth, and the thinnest one six- 
teentli of an inch. The sand between still thinner. 

On the farm of Dr. M. Selby, at 1 1-2 miles from the above, and 
not a mile from the former maigin of the lake, another pit showed 
these strata : 

(a) 2 feet of usual rich peaty soil — 

(b) 3 feet of usual intermixed sand and clay, separated, but not 

laminated — 

{d) 1 foot of firm and compact cla3^ 

{e) 1 foot of laminated clay and sand, as of the preceding, [e^) but 
less regular. 

Wherever the same kind of bed (as seen or reported) occurs in 
these diflTerent diggings, it is marked as similar, by prefixing the 
same letter — as a tor the peat formation — h for the bed below the 
upper peat, whether of nearly pure sand, or elsewhere mixed with 
clay — c the quicksand or mire of f)r(ner marsh deposited, &c. 

From extensive personal observation, and inquiries directed to par- 
ticular points, I conclude that the sand bottom of Lake Mattamus- 
keet is the same bed, or of the same geological origin and formation, 
(whether derived fi-oni the ocean, or sedimentary drift,) and identi- 
cal with the bed every where hereabouts underlying the upper peaty 
soil. That it is sand in some places, and clayey in others, is no con- 
tradiction to my position. Where impure clay thus appears, that 
and the sand are imperfectly and irregularly interuiixed (not lamin- 
ated,) and seem as if sand and clay had been torn up from difi'erent 
neighboring places, by violent action of water, and again let fall, 
after a movement too short to produce either thorough separation or 
intermixture. Where the sand is nearly pure, as in the now dry 
part of the bottom of the lake, and as shown in the wells on or 
near the "ridge," there are plain indications of longer suspension in 
water, and of deposition from water having but gentle motion. 

In the last pages, sundry incidental or connected matters have 
been brought in, which were not necessary to sustain the position of 



19'2 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

extensive former subsidence in this swamp region. Tlie facts stated 
(of sand &c., interposed between the older and newer peat forma- 
tions,) farther prove that there the subsidence was sudden, and to a 
depth below the then ocean level. And, inasmuch as the np[»er peat 
bed or soil ol the(long drained) lands of Mattamuskeet, is sothin, (from 
one to seven feet, and usually about three feet thick,) it may be that if 
enough deep excavations were made and observed, a more ancient 
peat formation might be discovered throughout, below the sand and 
clay beds. It should be observed, and is in accordance M'ith my 
reasoning on the general subject, that the natural channels of riv- 
ers and smaller streams, (described as so deep elsewhere,) could not 
have been formed deeper than the bottom of the upper peat, orlow- 
than the next underlying bed of sand or clay. Hence, as the upper 
peat here is usually thin, so the natural channels were as shallow 
at first, — and have been further much filled, within the memory of 
those now living, by sediment from the always turbid lake-water, 
or other sources. 

Elsewhere, the former subsidence of the land is as clearly shown 
by existing facts. But there, instead of a sudden and considerable 
subsidence, (making a void below the surface of the ocean water, and 
even below its neighboring shoal bottom, inviting and requiring 
materials to fill it, to be transported from higher surfaces — as occur- 
red here — the ancient subsidence of all the now thick peat beds was 
very slow and gradual, so that the surface was never sunk much 
below the standing height of the water, and therefore the produc- 
tion, deposit, and accumulation of peat, at the surface, was never 
suspended or interrupted. Therefore, while the whole area, and the 
underlying beds, were gradually subsiding, through great length of 
time, the surface of the peat, and to the very edges of the water 
courses, was still growing upward. Of course, with such gradual 
and nearly balanced subsidence and upward growth, the bottoms of 
channels, would become lower, while the waters in them, and the 
banks confining them, would be continually rising higher and high- 
er — not absolutely, but in relation to the bottoms of the channels, 
and the earlier formed and lower portion of the same peat bed. 

Having disposed of the facts and phenomena of subsidence, both 
sudden and gradual, I will now resume the consideration of the 
progress of the peat formation, and of the swamp earth and soils. 



THE GREAT SWAMPS OF TIIB ATLANTIC COAST. 19S 

Whether the progress of peat formation, in any particular area, 
continued uninterrupted during the gradual subsidence of the land 
— or whether it was there suspended, by the sudden submersion of 
the surface, and re-commenced at a much later period, in either 
case, the later manner and progress of the formation would be alike. 
I have already traced that progress to the supposed great extension, 
in depth and breath, of the peat formation, and the higher accumu- 
lation on the interior or central parts — the causes and manner of 
structure of the peculiar and deep channels of water-courses, and 
the still increasing supplies, and sources of supply, of the waters 
rising in and flowing outward from the swamps to find outlets of 
discharge, it may be through dry and firm but lower lying lands. 
It has also been shown, from the manner of their formation, why 
the great swamps should be of highest level in their central parts. 
From this general shape of surface, there has proceeded the very 
important and modern operation of the action of fire, in modifying 
the natural characteristics of the peat swamps. 

From the central part of a great body of swamp being of the highest 
level, and receiving no water except from rains falling immediate- 
ly thereon, it would be a necessary consequence, that, in long con? 
tinned droughts, these highest parts would become much dryer 
than their usually water-glutted state — and that the newest vege- 
table deposits on the surface, and even a few inches depth of the 
surface soil, would become dry enough to bum. Such temporary 
condition would cause no permanent effect, or danger of burning, 
before the existence and residence of man, and his use of fire. But 
afterwards the highest and dryest surfaces could not long escape be- 
ing fired. Fire, when first occurring, and in a time of long previ- 
ous drought, on the highest and then dryest space, might find dry 
fuel for some foot or more of depth. In the burning of this, the 
great and long continued heat of the smouldering fire would so diy 
up the moisture of the next layer of earth as to make it also fit for 
burning. Thus, deeper and deeper the burning might descend and 
destroy — each successive wet layer being dried, and rendered fit for 
fuel, by the heat of the burning above. In Buch time of drought, 

25 



194 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, iC. 

no refluent streams could come in to quench the fire. For the 
nearest surrounding surface, though then too wet to burn, was of 
higher level than all the still more remote or exterior parts of the 
swamp, and therefore could receive no streams from these outer 
parts. Thus, the burning area was surrounded by a broad and se- 
cure dyke, to keep out all the water of the swamp. No ordinary 
rain, falling upon the burning space could enough moisten the earth 
to stop its burning. And thus would the burning proceed, gradual- 
ly sinking deeper and deeper, until reaching the bed of sand below» 
In this manner, must have been formed all the basins for the now 
existing lakes in the great swamps — by burning out all the fonner 
materials w^hich filled the entire cavity — which was subsequently 
filled with water, by rains, and rain streams from the neighboring 
high swamp borders of the new lake. In the bottoms of all the 
lakes, charred roots and stumps are to be seen ; and in some parts 
of the swamp, layers of ashes, some feet below the surface, covered 
over by more recently formed peaty soil. 

When large lakes had thus been formed, as deep as the sand be- 
low the peat formation, new agencies of change were brought into 
operation. The high waves produced by violent winds, dashing 
against the banks of the lake, would wash into them, and remove 
them in time, and especially on the sides most exposed to high 
winds. The swamp earth thus washed off, and suspended in the 
water, would be, in part, lifted by the waves, and spread over the 
remaining and nearest high swamp surface, and thus serve still more 
to elevate the land bordering on the lake. The remainder of the 
fine and light peat washings, would be intermixed with the fine 
sand of the lake bottom, (itself liable to be moved by storm waves,) 
and depositedin sediment, and in thin and interrupted lamince,when 
the lake was nearly tranquil. Numerous examples of all these 
operations are to be seen. If the standing trees and their interlac- 
ed roots did not serve to bind together and preserve the banks of 
swamp soil, it would be much more rapidly washed away by the 
violent waves — and in this operation, we may even anticipate a fu- 
ture greatly increased superficial extension of the lakes, where not 
lowered by artificial draining. But with this process of superficial 



THE GREAT SWAMPS OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 195 

extension, the depth of the lakes will be decreased, if the washings 
from the banks are partly left in the lake and without a channel to 
flow out. The artificial canal which has lowered Lake Mattamus- 
keet some four feet, and laid bare a broad and flat margin of its 
former bottom, has supplied such a channel. And as above stated 
it is continually bearing oft' the fine peaty matter, washed up from 
the still covered bottom, and suspended in the lake water, and with 
it, choking the first reached bay of Pamlico sound. The water of 
this large and very shallow lake, only, is always turbid, and is 
made so by this suspended fine peaty matter. Lake Drummond 
and Lake Scuppernong, the next largest in surface, and both much 
deeper than Mattamuskeet, whenever I saw them, were perfectly 
clear as to all sedimentary matter. But still, because of the infu- 
sion of soluble vegetable extract, the clear waters of Lake Drum- 
mond are as deep colored as Maderia wine — and as seen in the lake, 
or the deep swamp canals and rivers, seem almost black. The wa- 
ter of Lake Scuppernong is but slightly colored. 

The warmth and length of our summers are so favorable to veg- 
etable decomposition, that peat must form and increase here very 
much slower than in Great Britain — and the different manner of the 
formation is the cause of the very different agricultural characters 
of the peat soils of the two countries. It seems, from the British 
writers on this subject, that the peat of their country is mainly com- 
posed of entirely undecomposed vegetable fibre, of course insolu- 
ble, and therefore inert as a fertilizer, or ingredient of soil — or with 
but an extremely small proportion of decomposed and soluble mat- 
ter, fit for early use as food for plants. The peat soils of Britain 
in some cases cover remains of ancient forests — but are now una- 
ble to sustain a living tree. The undecomposed and insoluble state 
of the peat, of these countries, is owing, not only to the cooler sum- 
mer climate, but in part to the great quantity of the tanning prin- 
ciple in the moss plants from which the peats there are principally 
formed. Bodies of both men and beasts, that have been mired, or 
otherwise buried in peat bogs, have been discovered centuries after- 
wards, (as proved by the ancient fashion of dress, &c., of men and 
women,) perfectly preserved, and perfectly tanned. No such re- 



Ids SKETCHES OF LOWElt NOBTH CAROLmA, I.C, 

suits have been heard of in this country ; and there must have been 
numerous subjects for trial, in mired cattle, if not also in buried hu- 
man bodies. 

The larger portion of the vegetable grovt'th, and subsequent de- 
posits on our peat lands, is of trees, or of plants other than the moss, 
which is an important, or considerable growth only of the juniper 
lands, or of the savannas bare of trees. The nakedness of these sa- 
vannas in many cases is produced, and in modern times, by the upper 
soil beingburnt off', and the trees killed, and, by the burning, the sur- 
face ofthe soil being reduced so low, and made so subject to water, as 
to be unfit to support the growth of trees. Or it may be that the soil 
(in other cases) is too exclusively composed of undecomposed vegetable 
matter, to permit trees, or any useful plants, to be supported. This 
would seem to be the case on the great " Open Ground" savanna 
in Carteret county, North Carolina, (a body of nearly ninety thous- 
and acres,) which lies high enough, but of which the soil contains 
less of earth, or even of reduced vegetable matter, compared to the 
unrotted and coarse, than any other peat or swamp soil that I have 
examined. The annual or very frequent recurrence of fires 
sweeping over the surface, though consuming only fuel lying on 
the wet surface soil, must also prevent the growth of trees, because 
the young shoots are continually killed above ground, until the roots 
also perish. 

In the great swamps, the kinds of trees growing threon are deem- 
ed sure indications of the qualities of the soil, after their being 
drained for culture. The best lands, of the peaty formation, and of 
longest abiding fertility (under the usual increasing cultivation of 
corn,) have black gum for their principal natural growth. That 
growth indicates the near proximity (within a few feet ofthe sur- 
face,) of a sub-soil more or less clayey. A mixed growth of gum 
and cypress trees, is held next but less in value, and still less as the 
gums are fewer in proportion to the cypresses. All the foregoing 
lands, when drained, are extremely rich, highly productive (in In- 
dian corn) from the beginning, and bear continual cropping for 
long time. No one has ever thought of manuring such lands, at 
first — and not usually even after long cultivation, and their being 



THE GREAT SWAMPS OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 197 

much reduced in products. The juniper lands are composed of 
unrotted peat nearly pure, and of but a very small proportion of 
well-decomposed vegetable matter — and that which is decomposed, 
before draining, is a black semi-fluid mire or sludge. The under- 
lying earth of the juniper swamp land is said to be always of sand. 
Some of these lands (near the Dismal Swamp canal,) have been 
drained and cultivated, and produced heavy crops for a few years 
only. But afterwards the plants would not grow with any vigor, 
and would die before attaining half their full size. It is now gen- 
erally understood that juniper land is worthless for cultivation. 
The savannas, or peat swamps bare of trees because too low to al- 
low them grow, are worthless for any purpose. 

After all, it is a mystery to me, why even the best of these pea- 
ty lands, of which still the larger proportion of their bulk is of pure 
vegetable matter, should possess so much and such durable fertility. 
In appearance, to the eye and to the touch, I found the best newly 
drained soil of Mattamuskeet swamp, to be precisely like the hio-h- 
est (and wooded) fresh-water tide marshes of James river, Virginia, 
such as I and many other persons have embanked, drained and cul- 
tivated. And these tide-marsh lands, which, at first, were of the 
highest grade of productiveness, in a few years so rotted away, and 
were thereby so lowered in height of surface, and therefore made 
so moist, that they were no longer worth cultivating. In fact, 
all the moss rotted away until the remainder was so low, and there- 
fore permanently wet, as to resist the further progress of decomjio- 
sition. 

From my personal, and dear-bought experience, and from far more 
extended observations, of the rotting away of embanked marsh soils, 
(which are but peat soils of a different manner of formation, and 
much less elevation,) I had inferred that all other peat soils would 
pass through the same course ; and, though requiring much longer 
time for the purpose, would finally reach the like end. I had sup- 
posed, that whatever in soil was of vegetable matter, (not in small 
and necessary proportion, and combined with the soil, but) separate, 
or pure enough to be readily consumed by burning, could, and in 
time would, be equally consumed by rotting, and complete decom- 



198 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

position, of which the final gaseous products would pass off and be 
lost in the atmosphere. But I am compelled to yield this opinion 
to the opposing experience of fifty and more years, of continual til- 
lage on the Mattamuskeet lands, longest drained, and to the univer- 
sal opinion of the oldest cultivators. Probably tlie truth will be 
found between the two extreme and conflicting opinions. No care- 
ful or reliable observations have been made, to test the question of 
the lowering of the surface, by the rotting away of the vegetable 
portion of the soil. And my confidence in the general opinion of 
residents in this respect, has been much lessened, by hearing 
other opinions as confidently urged, which were manifestly errone- 
ous. 

Mostof the higher, and therefore the better lands, around lakeMat- 
tamuskeet, are drained and under tillage. A few extensive and very 
valuable farms have been drained and cultivated for many years on 
Lake Scuppernong — and still less land has been reclaimed of the 
main body of the Dismal Swamp, and none of its interior portion, 
near Lake Drummond. But all these, and others smaller of such 
improvements in other places, make a very small proportion of the 
good peat swamp lands. Besides the juniper lands, which are 
deemed worthless for cultivation, there are extensive bodies of cy- 
press lands, owned by wealthy companies or individuals, who deem 
it more profitable to use the swamps to produce cypress shingles 
and timber, than to drain and clear any portion. The juniper trees 
are very valuable, for furnishing shingles. Every deep burning of 
any portion of juniper swamp, exposes numerous dead but sound 
trunks, before buried and concealed, from which much shingle tim- 
ber is obtained. Thus though the great fires, which occur after al- 
most every unusual drought, kill the living trees, and burn and des- 
troy much of the upper earth also, they are often the cause 
of exposing much greater values, in the before buried juniper 
trunks. 

When destructive fires occur in drained or cultivated soils, they 
usually proceed from the burning of some dead tree. The fire ex- 
tending downward, follows the dead and dry roots, under the ground 
and from them the lower earth takes fire, and burns beneath the 



THE GREAT SWAMPS OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. J 09 

surface ; and the burning may be concealed, or itsextent not known, 
until the upper soil fiillsinto the cavity burnt out below. The up- 
per soil, being most decomposed, is much less combustible than the 
lower earth. 

When new and untilled but drained soil takes fire, the burning is 
more extensive and destructive. A surface long tilled is compara- 
tively safe. Fields under growing corn, recently first tilled, have 
been burned extensively, destroying the crop, and also much of 
the soil. A public road was made near Lake Mattamuskeet, the 
material for wlfich was the earth taken out of a canal alongside, 
and which was dug to supply the earth. The bed of sand was 
near enough to the surface to be dug into, and furnished the latest 
dug and upper covering of the road. Fire, communicated from 
the adjacent burning savanna, burnt underneath the road— and be- 
fore it was suspected, the horses of some travellers, by their weight 
had broken through the sandy crust of the road, into the cavity be- 
low, which the concealed fire was still enlarging. In these causes 
much effort, and the labors of many hands, were required 
to extinguish the concealed, still more than the visible fires. 

There has been one mode or process of peat formation, of very 
extensive operation, which has not been treated in the foregoing 
remarks. This is the formation ot peat, or peaty swamp soil, un- 
der water. This process is usually commenced by the deposition, 
in the stiller deep waters, of fine vegetable matters suspended in 
the water, and transported from other and perhaps distant sources 
of supply. And of such may be the principal, or perhaps the 
only materials, until the deposit is raised nearly to the level of 
lowest covering water. But when water-plants can there grow, 
they will furnish additional and more abundant supplies of ma- 
terial — and thenceforward, the growth of the peat-soil will be 
much more rapid. When the surface of the peat is entirely above 
the water, then there can be received no more of transported ma- 
terials — and thereafter, the manner of growth of the peat will be 
like that of peat of land origin ; and either will be forwarded or 
retarded by like causes. In this manner were formed all the ex- 
tensive marshes of the tide- water rivers of Virginia, of which the 
soil is peat, and of the most transient durability, or existence 



200 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

Avlien drained. The cultivation of but a few years will serve to 
rot away half as many feet, of depth of the soil as had been ren- 
dered dry, and open to the entrance of air. In Wysocking bay, 
(part of Pamlico sound,) there is now such a process of peat for- 
mation in the early stage of progress, the sole material deposited 
being the fine peaty matter, always suspended in the water of 
Lake Mattamuskeet, and which is thence floated through the ca- 
nal to its outlet in Wysocking bay, and which bay is now being 
rapidly filled by the deposit. 

Of the later part of this process, after vegetation can begin to 
act, I am enabled to offer some examples in the words of an in- 
tellio"ent and accurate observer whose opportunities for and habits 
of observation have aftbrded the best evidence, on this particular 
branch of the general subject ; and of which I knew almost noth- 
ino- from previous information or personal examination. The fol- 
lowino- statements, were contained in a letter from the lion. Rob- 
ert T. Paine, of Edenton, North Carolina, who had previously 
read the foregoing pages, and which, with our preceding conver- 
sation, elicited the following interesting facts, which will be best 
presented in his own words, in the following extracts : 

***** " I could detail many facts, in proof of what 
you have written as to the origin and manner of formation of peat 
soils, by the gradual deposition of undecomposed vegetable mat- 
ter grown in water, or on wet earth — which facts have come un- 
der my own observation. Twenty-five years ago, an arm of the 
creek which, from the west, comes into the bay in front of Eden- 
ton, was one of my favorite places for angling. It was then about 
forty feet in width, more than one hundred and fifty yards in 
length, and with not less than seven feet depth of water. In late 
years, this water had become too shallow for angling. Still it af- 
forded me much sport in shooting, it being a favorite resort for 
wild ducks. Two years ago I visited the place, in autumn, and 
found it so obstructed by the increase of vegetable matter, that, 
at the ordinary height of water, I could not propel above half 
way up a light canoe drawing not more than four inches of water. 
In several places, and over what once had been the deepest wa- 
ter, and quite one hundred yards below the head, swamp wil- 
lows, at least two inches in diameter, were growing on knolls 



THE GREAT SWAMPS OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 201 

some five or gix feet across. These knolls were covered with very 
fine short grass. On forcing the canoe to one of these knolls, I 
found that I could depress it several inches by bearing on it with 
mj'^foot; yet it would support my entire weight. Under the sur- 
face of the water, and three or four inches deep, was vegetable 
sediment, or deposit, which, when taken upon the paddle, resem- 
bled rotten oakum — and throughout the bed, grew in mosses, the 
roots of the pond-lily, or "bonnet" plant. You could not have 
forced anvthino; of broad surface into this bed of vegetable matter; 
but the blade of the paddle easily passed through, meeting with, 
no resistance. The pond-lily will grow to the surface from the 
bottom of a considerable depth of water — sometimes as much as 
seven feet — yet the roots have a tendency to rise, and do gradu- 
ally come to the surface, until the plant at last dies for want of 
water above the roots. So soon as they reach the surface, or soon 
after, the seeds of plants and aquatic trees, falling upon the mass, 
take root and begin to grow, and thus the formation of marsh is 
begun. The weight of the vegetable cover, as it is accumulated, 
continues more and more to press down the soil, until, in the 
course of time, that which was fluid becomes semi-fluid, and, still 
later, solid. I would here remark that the accretion of solid mat- 
ter could not have been aided, to any perceptible extent, by wash- 
ings from the high land. I could multiply similar examples. 
But it will be suificient to say that the like change from water to 
land is going on rapidly along the whole creek, [which is an arm, 
or bay of Albemarle sound,] wherever there is marsh, and parti- 
cularly in the little bays or coves of the creek, which make up 
into the marshes. * * * * The accumulation of vegetable 
matter, by growth, in water of even considerable depth, is almost 
beyond calculation. I have seen the bays in the vicinity of Nags- 
head [on the sand-reef between Albemarle sound and the ocean] 
so completely choked with a species of growing salt-water grass, 
(and that where t'e water was six feet deep,) as to make the wa- 
ter stagnant — and the grass was so densely matted on the sur- 
face of the water, that the small sea-shore birds walked upon 
it." 



26 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &c. 



PA_RT V. 



NOTES OF THE NATURAL FEATURES, AND AGRI- 
CULTURAL CHARACTER AND IMPROVE- 
MENTS OF PARTS OF THE 
GREAT SWAMPS. 



In a preceding article a general description was given of the 
great swamp formation of North Carolina and Virginia. That 
description presented and explained the general and most impor- 
tant features and characteristics of this remarkable region, as a 
subject of natural history — and with especial regard to the geolog- 
ical facts, as causes of the existing, or formerly existing, condi- 
tions. But details and minute particulars were avoided, or only 
stated when necesssary, as examples, or evidences, of the general 
propositions therein enumerated and argued. In this piece, as a 
sequel to the preceding, it is proposed to enter more into details 
of description, of various scattered localities which have fallen 
under the writer's personal observation, at different times — and not 
only of the original and natural features, but more especially tho 
changed, and later and present conditions which have been pro- 
duced, on some small spaces only, by the labors of man, in drain- 
ing, and cultivation of the soil, and other connected improre- 
menta. 



204 SKETCHES OF LOWER NOETH CAROLINA, &C. 

TIIE DISMAL SWAMP. 

This great swamp, more than any other seen, has much the 
largest proportion of "juniper land," or surface on which the ju- 
niper, or white cedar, thrives best, and is, or has recently been, the 
principal, or exclusive, forest growth. The thrifty, and extensive 
or general growth of juniper indicates the wettest and most miry 
(or sponge,") soil, which is always the most peaty, or most exclu- 
sively of vegetable formation. These trees are the most valuable 
for timber, (in shingles especially,) and such land is perfectly 
worthless for draining and cultivation, because of its almost entire 
vegetable comi)Osition. Such land, and such forest growth, be- 
fore its last and complete destruction by tire, made up the larger 
portion of the main body of the swamp, and nearly all of its in- 
terior land. This soil is deep, and is said to lie on a bottom of 
sand. Near to the outer margin, and bordering on the surround- 
ing firm land, and between Suftblk and Elizabeth river, the 
swamp soil is not more than from one foot deep (nearest the out- 
side) to three feet further in — with a more clayey bottom earth — 
and the forest growth is of black gum, or cypress mixed with 
gum. Lands of this kind only, and in small proportion, even of 
this kind, have been drained, cultivated, and found of abiding 
productiveness. It is through the outer edge of the swamp, and 
of the portion the least swampy, that the Seaboard railroad passes, 
for a few miles only — and in which, the hastily passing ti-aveller, 
if not informed, would not suspect that he was then in the grei,t 
Dismal Swamp. The Norfolk and Petersburg railroad, now 
[1856] in the course of construction, passes tli rough another 
and larger line of the swamp, and more towards its interior— but 
still mostly over the outer and thinner deposit, of vegetable soil, 
and almost wholly through gum forest. The former route I ex- 
amined through, on foot — and also the latter, so far as it was then 
accessible — and for a distance said to present a fair sample ot the 
ground of the whole route through the swamp. The recent ex- 
cavation and embankment for this railroad has served to open 
the soil and its foundation much better to examination. The soil 
(nearly all covered by gum trees, and therefore of the most earthy 



Tim DISMAL SWAMP. 205 

and solid constitution of all the swamp,) so far as seen is but two 
and a-half to three feet deep before arriving at solid and real 
earth below. Both these conditions, of soil and sub-soil, seem to 
afford more desirable materials than would have been available 
farther in the swamp. Still, I infer (from the large proportion of 
putrescent matter in the soil) that much even of this embankment 
must rot away, and that the level of the newly raised surface for 
the road will sink in proportion. 

The most important and interesting route, for examination, and 
also for the fLicility and pleasure of the conveyance, is along the 
Jericho canal, dug and used for transporting shingles from the inter- 
ior of the swamp, and the lake, to the landing, at a tide-water 
creek, near Suffolk, empyting into Nansemond river, where the 
large sea-vessels are loaded. The canal is closed at the end near 
the creek, and its level is there more than twenty feet above low 
tide-water. The canal was dug twelve feet wide, four deep, and is 
ten mil'es long to Lake Drunnnond, and perfectly straight nearly 
throughout. A regulating lock at the junction with the lake, 
serves to keep the water in the canal at a uniform height, when 
long droughts may have sunk the water in the lake two feet or 
more, lower than usual. The canal water is level, from the lake (or 
from the lock) to the landing; and the water being supplied from 
the swamp, has a gentle current from the central portion of the 
canal towards both its extremities. 

The firm land near the landing, on both sides of the canal, varies 
from one to two, and for a little space is from three to four fieet high- 
er than the swamp surface.* The true swamp is soon reached, and 
from the remaining eight miles or more, along the canal, its margin, 
formerly a raised bank, is at most, but a few inches higher than the 



* This description and difference of the respective surfaces is general, so far as I Lave 
seen, whenever the margins of tue large s\*amps, and the adjacent firm land n:.eet. The in- 
terior parts of the great swamps, are higher, and much higher, than most, if not of all the 
highest sir-faees, of the surrounding and adjacent firm and dryest land. But immediately 
where the surfaces meet, the firm laud is there th*^ highest — and seems to have served as 
a dyke, or harrier, to restrain and keep back, to the present time, the further lateral 
spreading and growth of the semi-fluid swamp soil. 



206 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, kC. 

water in the canal, and also the water generally overspreading the 
neighboring swamp surface. The tow-path^ for the men propelling 
the boat, merely aflbrded better footing by being trodden and con- 
solidated — and by poles having been hiid along for the boat-men to 
tread upon, where the more depressed surface was covered by wa- 
ter. The peaty earth thrown out of the canal, when it was dug, 
must have made a broad and high embankment, of which scarcely 
anything now remains — nearly all having rotted away, and so dis- 
appeared. This sufficiently indicates how worthless is, and how 
short would be the very existence of, such soil, if drained and 
cultivated, and thus made liable to go into complete decomposi- 
tion. 

After an early and abortive effort to drain and cultivate some of 
the land, all the subsequentlaborsof the principal proprietors of the 
swamp (the Dismal Swamp Land Company,) have been directed 
exclusively to the very prolitable work of getting shingles, and 
other timber. The proprietorshiji, and the objects of this compa- 
ny, (whose patent covers forty thousand acies of the swamp, and 
does not include the lake,) both operate to op})ose and obstruct any 
attempts of other individual proprietors of other portions, for draining 
the better margin lands. And still more is this obstructed by the 
construction of the Dismal Swamp canal (for navigation,) which, 
by its high level, operates to dam and raise the water upon a large 
portion of the surface of the swamp. 

The swamp forests, where preseiving their original appearance — 
or where they have not been deformed or utterly destroyed by great 
fires, which have burnt both the soil and its covering growth — 
present scenery of solemn grandeur and of rare and peculiar beau- 
ty. The forests of gum and cypress, have not been much damaged 
by fires, or by the labors or improvements of man — and the trees 
usually remain of their propei' great sizes, and venerable appearance, 
closely shading the wet, black and level soil. The junipers do not 
grow large, or they are so sHghtly fixed in their soil of semi-fluid 
mire, that they are overturned by stornis before they reach large 
size. But when making the general cover, and though none may 
exceed twelve inches in diameter, a more beautiful forest growth 



THE DISMAL SWAMP. 807 

eannot be conceived. Tliese trees are evergreen — very like the 
cedar in general appearance, but taller, more slender, with long 
and straight and bare trunks, supporting tops of tapering, flexible, and 
graceful horizontal branches. Standing thick as they do naturally, 
the tops of the trees unite to form one vi-ide-spread canopy of green, 
supported by thousands of visible slender and perfectly straight 
columns. The silent gliding of the traveller's boat on the black 
and still water of the c.mal, and for miles together in silence and 
solitude through such forests as these, or of the gigantic gum and 
cypresses, and thence entering upon the bosom of the broad and 
beautiful central lake — all serve to i:)resent a combination of the 
gloomy sublime and the beautiful of Nature, that is rarely equalled 
elsewhere. 

As above described, was the appearance of the juniper land, 
and its covering forest, when I first saw it in 183(). Even then 
this beautiful locality was known as " the burnt woods," a desig- 
nation obtained long before, and fixed by time and custom, in con- 
sequence of a then long passed destruction by fire. Some yeai's af- 
ter my first visit, in a time of unusual drought, and dryness of the 
earth, another such devastating fire swept over neai'ly all the swamp, 
and destroyed the trees, and also the soil, for a foot or more in 
depth, of all this broad space of juniper land, and generally of the 
like land, throughout the whole swamp. The Jericho canal passes 
for five or six miles through this scene of former remarkable beau- 
ty, and of as remarkable subsequent desolation. Many years have 
passed since this last catastrophe — (I believe it occurred in 1S39 — ) 
and the land is again thickl}^ covered, and has a very different ap- 
pearance from both its former condition, preceding and succeeding 
the last great fire. None of the former growing trees are alive, and 
but few of the dead are still standing — charred and broken trunks, 
over-topping the new and thick under-growth, and serving now to 
defomi, as much as formerl3^to embellish the scene. The entire sur- 
face, thus burnt away, is now covered by a dense and scarcely pene- 
trable thicket of bushes, shrubs, briers and creeping vines, of dif- 
ferent aquatic species, scattered among which are numerous young 
junipers, of ^ut a few feet in height. It is a labor of great difficul- 



208 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

ty, and would be impossible for any one unused to the ground, to 
walk any distance (without cutting a passage) through this thicket, 
even if on firm ground. And the difficulty is much increased by 
the gro und being all of the wettest and softest of miry bog, which but 
partially resists the sinking of footsteps, by aid of the interlaced 
mat of living roots of shrubs below the surface — and on some spots 
of less tangled cover, with the carpet of the thick-growing but 
dirainitive plants of bog-moss, {sj)hagmim imlust.rc?) 

The destruction, by the last great fire, of valuable and living 
timber trees was enormous. But, for immediate use and profit, 
and even to this time, there was full compensation in the quantity 
of sound and good juniper trunks, which had been before too deep- 
ly covered to be got out, and which were made accessible and 
available, by the covering peat soil being thus partly burned off. 
Previously, there had been much recourse to the old buried tim- 
ber. But this last great fire made it so accessible, as even to facili- 
tate the pi-evious and usual labors of the " shingle-getters" — until 
a new obstacle was presented, in the next springing thicket of shrubs 
and young growth. 

From the main canal, at different points of departure, there are 
other branch canals, for smaller boats, and also a " horse-track" 
with extensive branches, to bring shingles, by boats or carts, from 
various remote points of the swamp, to the main canal. Some of 
these routes, both by water, and in walking on the " horse-track," 
were pursued far enough to show that I had already seen every va- 
riety of the soil and scenery. The horse-tracks, or paths for the 
mules, and the carts which they draw, are made of wood laid across 
the road way, and so rough that itwould seem very difficult for the 
mules to find footing on them. Yet they draw over them (as I was 
told) carts loaded as heavily as would be required on ordinary roads. 
These tracks are made by laying, on the quagmire, long poles par- 
allel and in the longitudinal direction of the route, and on these 
supports, pieces of split wood, rather longer than the width of a 
cart track, are laid across, and close to each other, on which the 
mules walk and draw the carts. 

On the other side of the swamp and of Lake Drummond, and at 



THE DISMAL SWAMP. ^09 

three miles distance from the lake, the Dismal Swamp Canal, (for 
navigation) passes, and the public road is constructed on the eastern 
bank of the canal. I had once previously travelled this road, by 
the public stage-coach, for the purpose of seeing and being inform- 
ed concerning the lands on the route. But unfortunately there was 
not one of my fellow-passengers who could give me any information 
of the country ; and even the driver was a stranger, and knew less 
of the bordering lands and their condition, than I did, who then saw 
them for the first time. Subsequently, some gentlemen well ac- 
quainted with the various localities and every connected circum- 
stance, kindly accompanied me on several different excursions, and 
aided my inquiries with their good information. To Col. Wm. B. 
Whitehead of Suffolk, and Capt. James Cornick of Norfolk, I was 
especially indebted for such aid. With Capt. Cornick, who is Pres- 
ident of the Dismal Swamp Canal Company, I rode in a carriage on 
the road along the canal, far enough to see examples of every vari- 
ety of ground, and to enable me to understand, and to make useful, 
what had been seen elsewhere in my previous passage through the 
whole route. 

The road from Portsmouth reaches and crosses the canal at Deep 
creek — into which, and into Elizabeth river (at low tide water) the 
canal empties by locking down, sixteen feet in all, at two places. 
Thence proceeding southward, the canal passes first through firm 
sandy land, and the water-level is there higher than the surface of 
the soil. After a few miles, the swamp land, proper, is entered, 
and continues on both sides of the canal and road to the end of the 
canal, where it locks down into the Pasquotank river, at South Mills. 
All the central and larger portion of the canal, including its whole 
middle section and summit level, passes through what was original- 
ly juniper-covered swamp — though now there is rarely to be seen 
a juniper, and but few trees of any kind. The high level of the ca- 
nal keeps the water higher over the swamp than would otherwise 
be, along all the western side of the canal, from which side the 
water would naturally flow (o the lower southward side and land. 
But on the eastern side, the bank of the canal keeps ofi" the water, 
and would aid the labors of private proprietors to drain on that 
side. Some few such attempts have formerly been made. Even 

27 



219 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &e. 

on the juniper swamp, when first drained and cultivated in corn, 
fine crops were raised for two or three years; but afttr tliat time, 
nothing woukl grow to maturity. I inter tliat this faihire was not 
because the land was " worn out," (as has been supposed,) but be- 
cause the dried upper soil had so rotted away that its surface had 
sunk too near to the level of the water, and to the bottoms of the 
ditches. The first dug ditches had in no way been filled, or obstruct- 
ed, and therefore weresnpjxxsed by the proprietoi's to be as efiicient 
as at first ; and consequently it w^as not suspected that the ditches 
required deepening. In such cases, a ditch may have been at first 
four feet deep, and then etficaclous. Its bottom may continue 
open to the full first depth. But if the whole surface soil has rotted 
away, and Jias been thus lowered in level say two aiid a-half feet» 
the ditch has then but one and a-half feet of actual dej)lh, and of 
course would be inoperative, where draining to four feet (lei)th was 
required. In proof of this, I heard of a ])iece of original juniper 
land which had passed through all the earlier conditions, froin 
great produciiveness, to sterility, and then was abandoned. A sub- 
sequentproprietordugthe old ditches much deeper, and the land again 
was made as productive as ever. But though such examples would 
go to sustain my position of the cause and pi-esent remedy for the 
soil, still, as such purely vegetable soil must continue to rot away, 
so long as it is well drained, it will be, at best but "perishable 
property," and probably not be in any case, worth the expense of 
improvement, for the profit of its transient productiveness. 

The more valuable gum-swamp lands, adjoining the suiTound- 
ing firm lands, and thence stretching out towards the central parts 
of the swamp, maybe seen, extending in different points of forest 
growth, and more or less approaching the eastern side of the canal, 
though, but in few cases coming near. Of such original good soil 
are all of the very few good farms and productive fields, that are 
to be seen along the route, until near the southern outlet. It is 
understood hereabout that the gum and cypress swamp lands are 
valuable when drained, and of long enduring fertility under tillagef 
— and that the juniper land is worthless. It is also asserted that 
the former soils have a clay " foundation," while the juniper land 
liei over sand — and this difference of the nnder-stratum is supposed 



THE DISMAL SWAMP. 21 1 

to cause the difference of value of the over-lying soils. I doubt 
the alleged uniformity of positions of these different under-layers ; 
and do not believe that tlie difference of sub-soil, at three or more 
feet below the surface could cause such great differences of produc- 
tiveness and quality in the thick soil above. As before stated, the 
immediate causes of different values, are the more pure vegetable 
constitution of the juniper soil, aud its less decomposed state — and 
the gum soil having less of its whole bulk of vegetable material — 
and that which it has, being much more decomposed, and earthy 
in texture, if not also in chemical constitution. 

Except a few cases of tillage, and of productive land, all the 
surface along the canal, as far south as the North Carolina line, is 
in its original state of swamp, and also its natural state, except for 
the general and desolatingefiect of fires. There is no large or beauti- 
ful forest growth left anywhere. West of the canal, where the wa- 
ter is kept high and the surface wet always, the fires have only killed 
and kept down all large trees — but have not prevented a dwarfish 
and ugly growth of various kinds of trees or shrubs, none of which 
live longer than to reach thirty feet in height. But on the dryer 
eastern side, every living plant is sometimes killed and consumed 
by fire. Where such destruction had occurred within the few last 
years, the lands appeared, and so I supposed them when first seen, 
to have been formerly drained and cultivated, and subsequently 
abandoned to the encroaching water. But I now learned that these 
lands had been cleared only by repeated fires. By walking on the 
side of a wide ditch, (made for boating wood to the canal,) I ob- 
tained a view of the surface of some of this naked swamp. The 
former covering forest had been juniper, of which the charred roots 
and low stumps were exposed thickly everywhere, and those below 
the surface were still thicker. I could from that, well appreciate 
the enormous labor of digging a canal for navigation through such 
a mass of sound wood — or even of cutting small ditches for drain- 
■age. It was truly said by Capt. Cornick, that through such land, the 
canal, to the depth it was sunk, was cut, not by the spade, but 
principally by the axe. the saw and the mattock. The ditch, on 
whose low bank we walked to examine the swamp, had been dug 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, fcC 

only two years. It was wide and deep enough to allow the pas- 
sage of narrow loaded wood-boats. Of course the earth thrown 
out must have served to raise banks of considerable size. Yet they 
had already sunk to not more than a few inches in height ; and in 
a few years more, there will be nothing of them left in elevation. 
If the whole ground had been well drained, and tilled, the whole 
surface of the drained soil would have rotted away in like man- 
ner. 

The growth on this land was (in November) a scanty cover of 
bunch-top broom grass, and other coarse and worthless grasses of 
wet and acid land. There are a few stunted pines, which have 
barely lived through the last fire, and will not live through the next 
one. Near to the canal, where the fires usually begin, (and at their 
beginning they can have but little power,) the pines, (all loblolly, 
orpm^^s ta-da,) grow to six or eight inches in diameter; and along- 
side of the road, where its loose sand has been spread, by winds and 
rains, over the adjoining swamp soil, some of the pines are twelve 
inches or more through. All grow sparsely, and are short-bodied 
and unsightly. On the peat soil many of these pines are overturn- 
ed by the winds, when less than eight inches in diameter ; and few 
remain standing much longer. When so uprooted, it is seen that 
the roots had very slight and sluillow hold on the wet soil. Yet 
these few dwarfish pines, ngly as they are, make the best natural 
feature in the landscape — than wliich nothing can be more wretch- 
ed and desolate in appearance. Very difiereut indeed it is from 



* At a later time (in 1858) I saw like rcbults of the rotting away of vegetable swamp 
S )il exhibited on a much larger scalg. Below South Mills, the southern extremity of this 
eanal, the navigable passage was made by enlarging, deepening, and some straightening 
of the source of the previous very narrow and crooked course of that upper part of the 
Pasquotank river, then called the Mocassin Track. The passage is entirely through deep 
peat earth. The required excavation had furnished broad and high banks along much of 
the course — and in some parts, nearly as la.-ge banks as if there had been there no 
previous depression of a channel. It required no other testimony than the present 
view of the new and old water-ways, and the knowledge of how the passage had been for- 
merly made, or improved by art, for the passage of large vessels, for the observer to bo 
sure where very broad and high banks of the excavated jieaty soil must have been 
placed. Yet now, scarcely any remains of them are visible — all the earth that wa:» high 
cuo\igti to be usuallj' dry, having entirely rotted jiway. 



THE DISMAL SWAMP. 213 

what I had anticipated of this road through the swamp — which, 
judging from what I had seen elsewhere of natural swamp forest 
scener}',! had supposed would present a magnificent avenue stretch- 
ing under a dense shade, made by the over-hanging and interlock- 
ing branches of beautiful junipers, enormous gums, and cypresses 
of the growth of a thousand yea rs. 

But however unsightly are the natural features of the landscape, 
the canal througliout is an interesting and beautiful object. The road 
also is excellent. For a few miles, at both ends, the canal was exca- 
vated either wholly, orat bottom, through sandy earth. The excava 
tion there supplied enough sand not only for the road alongside, but 
for the much greater length of the central part of the road, to add to 
which the sand has been brought in lighters. Thus, by sand added, 
the road has been made firm throughout its length ofmore than twen- 
ty miles. 

Within sight of the road, within Virginia, there are but a few 
cases of good drainage and cultivation, and good land, on project- 
ing points of the gum swamp. After ciossing into North Carolina, 
the soil changes more to gum swamp, and the extent of drained and 
cultivated surfaces is niuch greater. But the growth of corn gen- 
erally indicated either bad culture, or land previously neglected 
or impoverished. Along the last, or most southern section of the 
canal, its level again rises above the surface of the adjacent sw^amp. 
Still, at this place, are seen the only drained and cultivated lands 
on the whole route. These several farms have a discharge for their 
drainage into the much lower Pasquotank river, into which the 
canal empties, through its southern lock, at South Mills. But for 
this facility, afforded by the lower level and near neighborhood of 
the Pasquotank, all these farms would have remained inundated 
and irreclaimable bog, like all the other swamp bordering on the 
western side of the canal. 



2ii SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

THE MATTAMUSKEET SWAMP LANDS. 

The most extensive and important of all the drained and culti- 
vated swamp hiuds on the Atlantic coast, and also the oldest of such 
improvements, surround Lake Mattamuskeet, in Hyde county, 
North Carolina. The country embraced under this designation ex- 
tends to, and is bounded b}^ Pamlico sound on the east and south, 
Pungo river on the west — and has no recognized limits on the 
north, thi'ough the wild or unreclaimed swamp which makes up 
the large remaindei" of Hyde county. All this space is a portion of 
the much greater area of swamj), which, with few and narrow in- 
tervals of firm land, extends to the mouth of the Roanoke river, and 
to and along the whole length of Albemarle and Croatan sounds — 
the whole great peninsula of swamp being some sixty miles in 
length, and fifty in breadth. Li this great space, besides Matta- 
muskeet, there are three other lakes, Scuppernong, Alligator and 
Pungo — all of the latter being on much higher levels than the for- 
mer. Though the natural and former level of IMattamuskeet is but 
about seven feet above that of Pamlico sound, (and of the ocean 
flood tide,) and only about one-third of the elevation of Lake Drum- 
mond and Lake Scuppernong, still, Mattamuskeet and its immedi- 
ately surrounding lands maintain the general rule of occupying the 
highest level of nearly or quite all of the neighboring swamp coun- 
try. From Mattamuskeet at its former and natural level, and still 
from its bordering lands, the surface water would flow outward, 
and descending in every direction, unless to the south. And in that 
direction. Alligator river has about the same height of level. Lake 
Mattamuskeet, in its former dimensions, or beibre being lowered in 
height, and much contracted in surface, by being partially drained, 
was twenty miles in length, and with a general width of about sev- 
en miles. The margin of the surrounding swamp land (as usual,) 
is the highest of the neighborhood. Because of sufficient natural 
causes, the former surface of the lake was usually and considera- 
bly lower than the border river ; and thence it followed, that, in 
most years the border land was dry enough to admit of culti- 
vation before there had been any attempt to lower the lake, and 



THE MATTAMUSKEET SWAMP LANDS. 215 

thereby to drain the wliulc iieigliboriiig swamp Itiiids. Tlic pro- 
ducing causes of this early and natural partial diainage were 
these : 1st, there was a natural narrow depression of the surface 
extending from the lake to the nearest part of the sound, through 
which, the lake water, when highest, })assed ofi^ — and which cur- 
rent of water, in the long co\nse of time, had worn dinvn a still 
deeper channel, in a very shallow passage-way and outlet for the 
most superabundant water of the hd\e, and the boidcring lands. 
2d, The very large surl'ace area ol' the lake, and its shallow depth, 
caused much more water to be removed by evaporation, and there- 
by the surface of the lake to be much deepened in ail long summer 
droughts. This would pioduce so much the larger reseivoir to 
receive and retain the next succeeding great supplies of rain-water 
— which, sometimes, during a whole winter might not ever replace 
the water evaporated dui-ing the [(receding summer. And the lake 
being thus generally and considerably lower than the border lands, 
permitted them to be generally surface-drained by ditches empty- 
ing into the lake. 

For these reasons, some of the highest lands on tlie margin of 
Lake Mattamuskeet, were under cultivation seventy years ago, and 
long before there was any attempt, or thought of diaining upon a 
general plan of operations — and without any draining, except of 
each separate form, by its own small ditches emptying into the 
lake. Instead of profiting by even the natural channel of discharge 
for the highest water of the lake, the passage was actually dammed 
across, (at Lake Landing) to give height and permanency to the 
water-power to work a null. And the subsequent and early par- 
tial deepening of the passage below, thence to Wysocking bay, 
neither aided the drainageof the lake, nor was desired for that pur- 
pose — but was done to add to the water-power of the mill, and for 
boat navigation to the sound. 

Thus, without any aid from artificial means, the lake was most 
generally kept lower than its full height, by evaporation alone ; and 
in rare cases the water was lower than now, since permanently low- 
ered for general drainage. But on other, though also rare occa- 
sions, the surplus rain-water, flowing from the surrounding swamp 



216 SKETCHES OF LOM^ER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

lands, filled the lake to overflowing, and destroyed the crops on all 
the cultivated ground, or rendered its cultivation for that year im- 
possible, or hopeless. From this cause, in 1S86, the water rose 
and stood nearly to the doors of the dwellings on the highest ground, 
on the border of the lake — which is full seven feet above the level 
of Pamlico sound, and three to four feet above the present reduced 
level of the lake. When these calamities occurred, they were so 
much the more afflicting, because the visitation was universal. No 
farm and and no inhabitant escaped the total loss of the usual pro- 
ducts of the whole year. And the narrow border of the Matta- 
muskeet was the only land then dug, at any time, and had the only- 
inhabitants, to be seen for many miles of distance. While such 
was the condition of things, there was not a road, or any practica- 
ble passage by land, from the lake settlement to any part of terra 
jirma. 

At last, the government of North Carolina undertook to draw off 
a portion of the water of the lake, and so to permit all Ihe higher 
lands to be permanently drained. In 1838, the present canal was 
dug seven miles long, from the lake, at Lake Landing, to its dis- 
charge in Wysocking bay on Pamlico sound — sixty feet wide, at the 
surface digging next to the out-let, and decreasing to forty feet next 
to the lake. Unfortunately, under a mistaken view of saving la- 
bor, the crooked route of the natural and previous passage-way was 
used throughout for the new canal. A straighter course would 
have been shorter, and nearly as cheap in the fii'st excavation, and 
much more effective for use, and less liable to be filled by deposits 
of mud. This digging served to draw off about three and a-half 
feet depth of the previous high water of the lake — or of the height 
at such times as it could barely flow off before. The very shoal 
and level bottom of the lake next to the former shore, was laid bare 
for widths varying from half a mile to three miles. At one place 
only, Fairfield, on the north side, where the water was much 
deeper, the lake still reaches to its fomier bank and shore limit,, 
where the land is now about four and a-half feet above the wa- 
ter. 

The bottom of the lake, (including both the deepest and all the 



THE MATTAMUSKEET SWAMP LANDS. 217 

shallower parts now left bare,) is not of mud, or of bog-soil, as 
might have been supposed by a stranger, but a remarkably pure, 
and white sand, with a surface as smooth, as level, and as firm, as 
any land can have. In digging into the sand, two feet deep, near 
to the lowest margin then bare of water, no change in the sand 
was found, unless that it was still closer and harder, where lowest. 
The sand seems to have been deposited in very thin horizontal lay- 
ers, from one-eighth to one-sixth of an inch thick, and these fre- 
quently separated irregularly by broken laminoe. of fine black pow- 
der of pure peat-earth, of less thickness than one-sixteenth of an 
inch. The like powder, separated by the agitation of the water, 
in high winds, also covers much of the surface of the sand — and 
much of it is always held suspended by even the calmest water of 
the lake, in sufficient quantity to keep it turbid. This suspended 
matter is constantly brought, in the lake w^ater, through the canal, 
and is deposited therein, in large quantity. But the much larger 
portion is carried to the nearest water of the sound, and there de- 
posited, to the great injury of the port for vessels. It is estimated 
that a space of seventy or more acres of Wysocking bay, has been 
filled up, five feet deep, entirely by this vegetable sediment, and 
so much of the previous best part of the harbor, and shipping port, 
rendered inaccessible to vessels, that previously took in their car- 
goes there.* To provide for this great and increasing evil, the 
neighboring proprietors have recently dug another canal, from 
another neighboring and suitable part of the sound, to the edge of 
the state canal — but have careful ly left a dam, or '* bulk-head," be- 
tween, to prevent the water and all its fluid sludge from entering 
the newer canal, and choking that also, and its outlet into the 
sound. Of this peaty powder the larger particles are heavy enough 



* This operation of filling Wysocking Bay by transported peaty deposit, is the com- 
mencement of the formation of a future peat bog in that place. The formation would 
proceed much faster, hereafter, if it was in fresh water, instead of salt, so that fresh 
water aquatic plants might grow, when Ihe water is sufficiently shallow, and add their 
undecomposcd remains to augment the rising surface of the deposition of sludge, trnns- 
portedfrom the lake. 

28 



218 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

to sink in nearly tranquil water, but light enough to be lifted and 
carried along by moving water. It is entirely of vegetable origin 
and material, and as black as charcoal. But it has been so long 
water-soaked that it is difficult to burn w^hen dried, and has lost all 
its soluble parts. Therefore, where covering any part of the dry 
bottom of the lake, it adds no value either as soil or manure — and 
(in its present condition) is as barren and worthless as the sand it- 
self. The sand bottom left bare of water, has been slowly and 
scantily covered with grass, which is kept low by the grazing cat- 
tle. Nothing of larger size grows there. And the broad expanse 
of smooth and hard green surface, appearing to the eye perfectly 
level, offers to the observer an object of remarkable and peculiar 
beauty, very different indeed from its former appearance, but not 
less beautiful than the still remaining broad surface of the lake ly- 
ing beyond these green sand downs. Barren as are these sands^ 
yet, as covered with green, at some distance they would seem to 
the eye to be fertile as well as beautiful. And the blue water of 
the lake, as also seen at some distance, would not be suspected to 
be always foul and turbid with suspended sludge of black bog- 
earth. Riding or driving over these broad flats is very pleasant, 
both for the very firm and level ground, and for the surrounding 
scenery, of water on one side, and rich lands covered with luxuri- 
ant crops on the other. But there is one offset to the pleasure, 
and also the convenience of driving on the sands, in the obstruc- 
tions opposed by the many farm ditches, made for draining the rain 
water from the neighboring fields into the lake. If these ditches 
were bridged, carriages might be driven over any paii of these very 
extensive sand downs, as smoothly and safely as on the smoothest 
lawn, or sea-beach. Except for the absence of trees, and of shade» 
(which deficiency cannot be supplied,) there would be no more 
beautiful promeiiadein the world. It is surprising that the conve- 
nience, and great saving of distance, of having the public roads on 
the sand has not been appreciated and availed of. The route ol" the 
principal public road, now as formerly, is outside of and around the 
ancient shore of the lake. If the much shorter circuit of the pre- 
sent reduced water were used, from eight to ten miles of the 



THE MATTAMUSKEET SWAMP LANDS. 21.9 

whole circuit miglit be saved, jind a firmer and better roadway be 
obtained. 

The now remaining water of the hike is ahont sixteen miles 
long, and tive wide, and scarcely anywhere more than throe and one- 
half feet deep The outer and larger portion is less than two feet. 
1 do not know the rate of descent in the present canal. Bat judging 
from the flow of the current, (then about a foot higher than the 
lowest water,) it certainly cannot be less than four feet of fall to the 
sound. Then by deepening the canal, at its upper part three and 
one-half or four feet, ami less as descending, the wliole lake would 
be drained, its bottom made dry, (except in the bed of the canal) 
and all the existing and unceasing supply of sludge and bog-mire 
would be ended, and the evils thereby caused, of choking the canal 
and the port, its outlet, would be entirely removed. At the same time 
the present very poor means of navigation along the canal, would 
be much improved — and still more, if greater depth to the canal 
was given, or lock-gates were placed thereon. But such improve- 
ments are hopeless, and would not now be even deemed desirable 
by the residents. The opening of the canal to its present depth, 
and the lowering so much the water of the lake, before the exe- 
cution was strongly opposed by many of the swamp proprietors, as 
likely to be injurious to their interests, and to the best condition of 
the land. The further deepening of the canal, and the entire emp- 
tying of the lake would now have many more opposers, and few if 
any advocates. 

The older and more extensive cleared lands are between the south 
side of the lake and the sound, and through which the state canal 
passes. Those pi-oprietors whose lands were near to the designed 
route, and not of the higher levels, objected to the deepening of 
the canal because its (expected) much increased discharge of water, 
after heavy rains, would for the time, raise the water along the 
course of the canal. And even at this time, this charged eflect is 
alleged as the cause of the later abandonment of some of the lauds 
of lower level, nearest to the sound, which were once under tillage. 
The same objection, and also others, would now be made to the 
further and complete drainage of the lake. It is maintained that 



8S0 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, kC. 

the lake now serves as a vast reservoir to receive the surplus rain- 
water discharged from the surrounding lands,;^and especially from 
the inundated swamps — and that the accumulated water thence 
flows off gradually through the canal. If there were no lake, but a 
deeper canal, or a narrow channel, instead, the discharge of surplus 
water, would be more rapid, and as supposed, would rise much 
higher along the lower part of its course, and would inundate aud 
damage more land. This would be a very improbable, or, at least, 
an uncommon result, even if there was no restraint on the free pas- 
sage of the water. The surplus water would begin to flow off at a 
level four feet lower than it does now, and therefore would be re- 
ducing its quantity much earlier. If still accumulating faster than 
the discharge, (as well might be in great rains, or very wet sea- 
sons,) the drained and sandy bottom of the lake would afford ample 
space for the raised water to spread over, and without damage to 
anything on that barren surface. If, however, the water should 
still be like to pass out in such quantity as to overflow, or other- 
wise damage, the low-lying lands near the sound, the discharge of 
water might easily be restrained and regulated and so kept harm- 
less. At the old shore of the former lake, where the present bar- 
ren sand flat joins with the rich and cultivated soil, a flood-gate 
might be placed across the canal, of such capacity as to permit the 
passage of no more water than the canal could well contain and 
discharge, without its rising high enough to damage the bordering 
fields. All the greater excess of water would be kept back on the 
bed of the lake, until gradually drawn ofl' through the flood-gate. 
This plan would afibrd security against the apprehended damage 
from this cause. But, in my opinion, the flood-gate would scarce- 
ly be needed. The then drained and often dry sand bottom of the 
lake would absorb an immense quantity of water, when thus par- 
tially overflowed. And when the lowest bottom should be thus sat- 
urated, there would still remain many thousands of acres of the 
former, (and present) lake bottom to be overflowed, before rais- 
ing the water in the lake, or in the canal, to the present usual 
levels. 

From near the lake on its north side, (at Fairfield,) a navigable 



THE MATTAMUSKEET SWAMP LANDS. 221 

canal, twenty feet wide, extends to the upper part of Alligator riv- 
er, and is kept filled by the refluent water of that river. The ca- 
nal is not connected with the lake, because the entrance of the tur- 
bid lake water (when high) would be injurious, in choking the ca- 
nal and its outlet with fluid sludge, as is in rapid progress in the 
state canal. As tliis canal (from Fairfield,) is kept filled with water 
to a level (that of the Alligator river,) it aftbrds, for its length of 
four miles the best measure of the comparative heights of difierent 
parts of the bordering swamp. From near the lake, and thence to 
the beginning of the canal, the surface of the land is no where less 
than four and a-half feet, and at the highest ridge, is seven feet 
above the lake water. Such are the ordinary heights of surface 
near to all around the lake. Along the canal, the cultivated land 
maintains a height of four feet, for a considerable distance, and then 
gradually declines to " savanna" land, which is about a foot higher 
than the water in the canal, and for a mile in breadth, to the river, 
and which is totally worthless. 

The original forest growth of the highest (and therefore) the 
best lands, was principally of l)lack gum. A mixed cover of gum 
and cypress indicated the next best grade, and the land decreased 
in height of level, and value, as the proportion of cypress became 
more and the gum less abundant. On still lower surface, and 
also where the sub-soil approaches, near to a low surface, small 
^' savanna" or pond pines, {jpiaus serotina) became the general 
forest growth. On the still lower or true "savanna land" no 
trees can now grow — and the thick cover is of tall and coarse wa- 
ter grasses — and this land gradually changes to the still lower ri- 
ver marshes. No juniper land is now seen in all this swamp re- 
gion. The former juniper lands of Mattamuskeet have all been 
burnt over, and the former growth destroyed, as well as the upper 
soil itself — and the land is abandoned as worthless. This is the 
most general origin of " savanna land." Through this land, now 
bare of trees, wherever canals are dug, the buried trunks and 
other parts of juniper trees are found and often in great quanti- 
ties, and at lower levels than such trees could now live. 

The discharge of the ditches of the cultivated lands, in many cases 
is into the lake. But in many other cases, it is toward the sound, 



222 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

or elsewhere outward. And this sliould be wlierever the surface 
dips outward from the lake, as is most generah To drain in the 
direction of the dip of the surface will be most efficient for the 
particular land so drained. Another and general benefit of such 
drainage would be, that so much loss water would flow into the 
lake, whence to be discharged through the canal. The best and 
highest lands are generally nearest to and surrounding the lake ; 
and the belt of such best land varies in width usually from half a 
mile to two miles. In some cases it is still wider — and in others 
much narrower. These narrowest high margins only remain in 
forest, because deemed not worth being separately fenced, if clear- 
ed and cultivated. 

If the lands under tillage, around the former margin of the lake 
average a mile in breadth, (as I heard estimated,) there are about 
fifty square miles, or thirty-two thousand acres. The land 
naturally is immensely rich, and very productive in corn, notwith- 
standing the necessary and great defects of texture of this, as of 
every vegetable soil. "When new, the land brings about fifty 
five bushels of corn to the acre, and generally as much as thirty 
bushels after fifty years of continued crops of grain, without rest 
or manure to the fields. That the land had not produced more at 
first, was owing to the excess of vegetable material, (constituting 
the greater part of the bulk of the soil,) and imperfect draining — 
and for the oldest lands, the incessant cultivation under grain 
crops, without any aid to the soil. The good land sells readily 
for 175 to 1100 the acre. 

Before my first seeing any of these drained and durable swamp 
soils (near Lake Scuppernong,) I had supposed that the}^ were al- 
most wholly composed of vegetable matter, like the formerly em- 
banked and drained tide-marsh lands of Virginia — and that like 
these lands, and also the drained juniper swamp of the Dismal 
Swamp, that these would in like manner, when drained and tilled, 
rot away and waste, until sinking so low as to be worthless, 
though requiring much longer time to reach that evil conclusion. 
I could not deem it possible that such vegetable soils should re- 
tain their productiveness, and (as generally believed) all or most, 
of their original elevation, under exhausting tillage for fifty years 



THE MATTAMUSKEET SWA^MP LANDS. 223 

or more. And the actual results of durability, as tliey appear 
even to myself, stif seem unaccountable, ev»n after finding that 
these soils have more of earth}' matter than I had at first inferred. 
Still, as they are all, and largely of peaty formation and constitu- 
tion, much of the great excess of vegetable material must be lia- 
ble to complete decomposition and waste — or the rotting away 
and loss of so much of the bulk of the soil. But I could not 
liear, about Mattamudceet, of any admitted or unquestioned re- 
sults iif this kind. The oldest farmers of whom I inquired, (and 
some had resided here for seventy j^ears,) had never suspected 
that their lands had become lower in surface — nor could they be- 
lieve that any such effect is to be feared for the future. On the 
contrary. I found that some experienced farmers held the opinion 
that, after their land is first drained and cultivated, the surface ac- 
tuallj' becomes higher. Though the error of this opinion needs 
no argument to expose it, still its being entertained by experien- 
ced farmers, and long residents, is enough to prove the mistake 
of my former belief, that there had been great waste of tlie upper 
soil, and that such waste was still in rapid progress. I now sup- 
pose that some such waste, and consequent lowering of the sur- 
face, must have occurred on all these lands after their being 
drained ; but that the amount of loss has not been very great on 
the best lands. The many good dwelling houses about Matta- 
muskeet were erected on brick foundation walls, and all have 
brick chimneys, and the masonry of both rest? on the vegetable 
soil, merely well rammed previously. Yet no facts were heard 
of the sinking of such walls and chimne3'S, to any unusual or 
considerable extent. All these facts would seem to be sufficient 
evidences that no very great sinking or rotting away of the good 
soil occurred. The only facts learned which seemed to me evi- 
dence of the rotting and lowering of any other land, was not so 
supposed, or admitted by the neighbors. The lands near to the 
sound (near to Wysocking bay,) which were originally of low sur- 
face, but were formerly under regular cultivation, have long since 
been abandoned, and are now covered by large loblolly pine 
trees, {pinus iczda). It is generally believed, and alleged, that 
these lands became unproductive, not because of their surface be- 



3M SKETCHES OF LOWEK NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

ing absolutely lowered, and tluis being more damaged by the 
nearer Leigbt of the water of the sound, as it stood before, but 
because, by later openings of broader inlets of the ocean and its 
freer entrance into Pamlico sound, its surface has been more rais- 
ed, relatively to the land — and also, from the more ready access 
of the ocean tides, that the water of the sound is much saltertban 
formerly. But the great changes of this kind, (caused by storms 
enlarging, or m.aking new inlets through the sand-reef,) were of 
as late occurrence as 1842 — and this low land had been left out 
of cultivation long before. Besides — even if the greater openings 
of the reef had preceded the abandonment of the land, it could 
not have been the cause. The fewer and smaller are the passa- 
sages through the ocean sand-reef, and the more impeded the en- 
trance of the ocean-water, so much the greater must be the ob- 
struction to the w^aters of the sound being discharged into the 
ocean, and necessarily so much the higher must be the ordinary 
and general level of the water of the sound. And therefore, while 
much more open and larger inlets for the entrance of the ocean- 
water would cause the highest and very rare storm-tides to rise 
higher on the lands bordering on the sound, these larger passa- 
ges would operate to keep lower the usual and average level of 
the waters of the sound. It is disputed, among the neighboring 
residents whether even now there is any regular flow and ebb of 
the tide on the nearest shore of the sound. Those who main- 
tain the atlirmative, admit that the variations are very small, and 
scarcely appreciable by slight observation. On the other hand, 
one person who had resided for thirty years close to the water's 
edge, (near Wysocking harbor,) and enjoyed every facility for ob- 
servation, declared that there are no regular tides, and in ordinary, 
only such variations of level of the water as are caused by the 
direction of winds operating on the surface of the sound — and 
the rare and extraordinary rises of water caused by the great in- 
flux of ocean-water during great storm-tides. The lake itself, is 
altered in level by strong and long continued winds, which per- 
ceptibly and considerably depress the surface of the water on the 
windward, and raise it on the leeward side. 
Indian corn is almost the only crop made on the lands, and it 



THE MATTAMUSKEKT SWAJIP LANDS. 22-5 

thrives far better tluiTi any other grain, or any other crop of large 
cultiiro. I have never seen such niagniiicent growths of corn, 
upon such hirge spaces, iS'o part of the land is left without a 
crop, and corn alone covers nine-tenths of the whole surface. The 
few and much smaller crops of wheat seemed heavy to the first 
view — (it was during harvest — ) but the grain is f;ir inferior com- 
pared to the growth of straw, and the products fall short of their 
promise to the eye, when growing, or standing. Oats looked 
well But this crop is not deemed proiitable, and is raised but by 
few tarmers, and for farm consumption only. 

jSTearly all the drainage is too shallow, and therefore imperfect 
in effect. The soil is so porous and open, that its drainage is easy 
to accomplish wherever there is enough fall — and four feet of fall 
is deemed ample. Much land is cultivated in corn, and produces 
well, of which the level surface is not more than two and a-half 
feet higher than the water flowing, or standing, in the ditches. 
Many fields near to the sound, are of still lower level compared 
to the usual, or permanent height of the water in the adjacent 
ditches. When the surface has declined to eighteen inches only 
above the standing height of the water, and for all of lower sur- 
face, the land is left waste. Where such lower land was former- 
ly cultivated, it is soon covered by loblolly pines, which when old 
enough, are of large size. They are uot perceptibh^ damaged by 
this low land being very rarely overflowed by the salt water of 
the sound when raised to very unusual height by storm tides of 
the ocean. Sucli low land, and with such forest cover, makes a 
broad belt alongside the higher and cultivated lake lands. Of 
still lower level, and stretching to the sound waters, are savanna 
swamps, too low to bear trees — and still low er marshes, covered 
by coarse salt-water grasses. These lowest lands would be very 
valuable for grazing, but for two great evils, and complete causes 
of worthlessness. The cattle are annoyed by myriads of mosqui- 
toes ; and in summer, all fresh water, for their use, fails. The 
wells on tlie low^ borders of the sound, then supply only salt-wa- 
ter — and in drj' seasons, the fresh-water in ponds and the neigh- 
boring ditches, supplied previously by rain-water, become either 



226 SKETCHES OF LOWER NOETII CAROLINA, JtC. 

tliy, or replaced, or clianged by the refluent salt water of the 
sound. The tlicn saltness of the water of the neiHiborino- wells, 

O 7 

is supposed to be the unavoidable consequence of the saline im- 
pregnation of the earth. But, I think, if care were used to exclude 
by dykes, the present close approach, and continued access, of 
thesalt-Avater of the sound, that the well-water would soon become 
and remain fresh. The inhabitants of these localities obtain scant 
supplies of rain-water for drinking and other essential domestic 
and family uses — and when that foils, recourse is had to the al- 
ways turbid arid then warm water of the lake. At such times 
the cattle on the salt marshes sutler greatly, and in some cases 
jierish, for want of fresh water. 

The wells throughout the higher swamp lands yield water of 
various flavors, but in but few cases any tolerable for drinking, 
though lit for all other purposes. The best water is obtained in 
some wells dug on the highest "ridge," where the upper peaty 
soil is but one or two feet thick,'and the next bed of earth is sand 
like that which makes the general bottom of the lake. The wa- 
ter, in abundance, is readied at from twelve to fourteen feet deep, 
and usually in a miry quicksand, seemingly of former marsh mud, 
with remains of aquatic vegetable growth, and which is oftensive 
to the smell. In wet seasons, the water of most of these wells 
rises much higher than usual. The wells which aff"ord the best 
water are sunk below the quicksand, to a lower source. 

The occupants of the interior and better lands, who are gener- 
ally in good circumstances, and all others who are provident, are 
well supplied with rain-water for drinking, collected from the 
roofs of their houses, and conducted into subterranean cisterns. 
The cheaper aiid usual substitutes tbr such cisterns above-ground, 
and used by the poorer class, are large cypress troughs. 

All the soils are composed, in large proportion, of vegetable or 
peaty material. But from some peculiar causes, these soils con- 
tain more earthy matter than would be supposed from the general 
manner of foi ination of peat soils. The upper vegetable soil is gen- 
erally from tM'o and a-lialf to three and a-half feet thick. On the 
"ridge," the soil is but one avid a-half to two feet deep. There and 
also elsewhere, the next bed is nearly of pure sand, like the bottom 



THE MATTAJIUSKEET SWAJU' LAXDS. 227 

of the lake. Close by this ridge (which is tlic poorest of the higher 
land,) the vegetable soil is the deepest of all these lands, six feet or 
more. The whole next uiiderl3nng bed, though (as I infer) it is one 
continuous bed, varies in texture, in diiferent places, from the nearly 
pure sand just mentioned, to the same so intermixed with clay, as 
to be adhesive when wet, and making hard clods when dry. This 
is much the most general texture of the sub-soil of the higher 
lands. 

Hyde county is deemed the richest and most productive in North 
Carolina, and yet nearly all its cultivation and production are with- 
in the small cleared belt surrounding this lake. I could learn but 
little of the agricultural statistics. It is said that the annual ex- 
port of corn, from the lake lands, is more than five hundred thous- 
and bushels. 

It is not required, for any purpose, to say much of the agricultu- 
ral practices of the Mattamuskeet lands. The good lands are 
densely populated by an industrious and thiiving people. The set- 
tlement is more isolated, and difficult of access, than any other 
place known. Even now, there is no public conveyance for a trav- 
eler, by land or water, approaching nearer than the town of 
Washington, North Carolina. But formerly, the place was much 
more secluded. The approach of a visitor from abroad was next 
to impossible. And foi" a resident of the settlement to go abroad, 
with all the aid of his knowledge of localities and facilities, was a 
most arduous undertaking. Until within comparatively recent time, 
there was no road, or land route practicable for a rider on hoi\se- 
back, to any other settlement, and for many miles of distance across 
miry swamps intersected by deep rivers. The only now existing 
land route, leading to the interior country, is a road made at the 
State's expense, and constructed by the only available means of 
excavating a large canal, to supply earth to make a broad bank, 
on which is the road. In digging this canal, (through savanna 
land, bare of trees) such a quantity of dead but sound wood was 
found and removed, and which was at first left alongside, that it 
appeared to an eye witness impossible to replace all the wood in 
the canal from which it had been taken. Much of the earth thus 



2d8 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

obtained to make this road, was of the sub-soil of sand, which gave 
much more of true earthy and permanent material for the embank- 
ment. But even with this admixture of sub-soil, the road is still 
so largely composed of combustible matter, that it has frequently 
taken fire, and required much labor to have the fire extinguished, 
and the road saved from being entirely burned avt\ay. Belbre this 
road was in use, any traveller from or to the lake lands, had to pass 
over a long and unfrequented water route, in a boat large enough 
to take his horse safely, until reaching land firm enough lor a horse 
to travel over, and thence perform the long remainder of his jour- 
nay. Under such difficulties of intercourse, the settlement could 
be but rarely visited by strangers. A connnunity necessarily so 
isolated, and shut out from personal conmiunication with others, 
and of persons all in similar conditions of labors and objects, must 
necessarily have acquired and retained the same agricultural opin- 
ions, and practices ; and nowhere are they more uniibrm, abiding 
and fixed, than here. There can nowhere be found people so per- 
lectly contented and satisfied with their pi'esent condition, and who 
d j not even imagine the possibility of improvement being found in 
any change of procedure. The ])roprietors entertain no doubt of 
their occupying the richest land in the world — (in which opinion 
they are not far wrong — ) and also that it is managed in the best 
passible manner. Thereibre it is not in the vain hope of making 
converts there, that I will state, genej'ally and cursoiily, and onjit- 
ting all details and minor matters, sume of the piincipal wants 
and defects there observed, and some of the principal improvements 
needed. 

The ditches dug in this peculiar soil, if merely "let alone," 
would keep open for a long time, and need less labor for repairs, 
and cleaning out, than any seen elsewhere. The digging is easy, 
whei-e not obstructed by cypress stunji)S, or buried juniper logs. 
The open vegetable texture of the soil, and its great depth, makes 
it drain well, and far, by lateral pei'colation, to wherever a lower 
neighboring outlet is attbrded. Yet the principal ditches are never 
deep enough ; and even those of largest size, acting to receive and 
ciKivev away, to distant outlets the surplus water of a whole farm, 



THE MATTAMUSKEET SWAMP LANDS. 229 

or of several farms, rarely remain open three feet deep. Probably 
they were dug deeper at first. J^ut as hogs have free access, at all 
times, to the ditches along all public roads — and for some months 
of every year to all ditches, and even the largest canal — of course 
all are in the course frequently, of being moi'e or less filled by the 
rooting of hogs on the ditch sides, and by their wallowing beds 
made in the bottoms. Xo covered drains are made anywhere. 
Yet they would operate admirably in this porous soil; and more- 
over they would here have the especial benefit that they could not 
be choked, or otherwise damaged by the rooting of hogs. 

The raising of hogs, and Ihttenini^them in am})le supplies, al 
most without feeding, is a great and justly valued benefit here. 
But, as obtained, I doubt whether the pork is not fully p;iid for, in 
the additional expenses of fencing required, and the damage to. and 
repairs for, the ditches and canals, which are incident to the mode 
of rearing and fattening hogs. Tiie newly reaped wheat and oat 
fields, in the grain scatteied ;in<l left therein, ofier one important 
supply of food fur hogs — which is much the greater, because of 
the great and unnecessaiy waste in harvesting — and that too, in 
the prinn'tive mode of reaping entirely by the sickle, or reaphook, 
of which the admitted superior advantage is the permitting a clean- 
er and more complete saving of the crop. The cornfields are all 
sown in a secondary crop of peas, on which, and the waste-corn left 
in gathering, the hogs are put, and become fat with but little other 
food. Thus a plentiful supply of meat is obtained for every farm, 
at very little cost of food, but at heavy cost otherwise, in the neces- 
sary increased fencing and ditching. For besides tiie great damage 
of the hogs rooting and obstructing every ditch and canal, and 
rendei'ing the drainage, (with all the repairs,) much less operative, 
it is another condition, necessary to this hog-economy, to fence sep- 
arately every Held, so that the hogs of eacli farm may be confined 
therein, separately at the pi'oper time for gleaning the waste of 
each crop and field. This is universally done — even on farms on 
wliich all tlie excellent cypress timber has been exhausted, and 
where the rails and all the materials for fencing have to be bought, 
and brought from a distance, at great cost. 



230 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

The crops of corn frequently suffer, and greatly, by being blown 
down, by the violent winds which pass over the sound from the 
ocean. But, even on the lowest tilled lands, there is rarely 
anv damage from the highest rise of the water of the sound, when 
caused by hurricanes. There have been but three such " hurri- 
cane tides," by which much land was overflowed and the crops in- 
jured, in the last thirty years. The ordinary access of salt-water, 
from the sound, to the lowest tilled lands, and the consequent inju- 
ries therefrom, might be excluded by even a low and cheap dyke 
raised along the lower margin of all such land, bordering on the 
sound, and along the margins of the larger canals. By this simple 
and cheap safe-guard, thousands of acres of fertile land might be 
added to the space now under culture. 

Canals may be so cheaply excavated in all this region that the 
cost might be well affuriled in many other places, for the benefit 
both of navigation and drainage. If dug deep enough to pass, or 
to hold water a foot deep, that depth Avould serve for much ordi- 
nary transportation, and it might be deepened temporarily, by 
raising the level of the water by flood-gates. Besides this, and 
also the draining benefits of such deeper diggings, another impor- 
tant incidental advantage might be gained, and from nearly every 
deep farm ditch, in using tlie clay sub-soil as manure for the surface 
vegetable soil. In Britain, such dressings of earth are deemed all- 
important and essential, tor tlie improvement of the drained 
peat-soils of that country — and they are applied at much greater 
cost than would be required about Mattamuskeet. Thus we have 
the long experience cf British farmers, as well as sound reason, if 
in advance of all facts, to fortify my position. Here, even whei\ 
the clay is reached in ordinary ditches, and thrown upon the mar- 
gins, it is left there, and acts only to obstruct the surface drainage. 
No one has moved off" the incumbrance to improve the texture of 
the adjacent land. And it would be deemed the height of folly, 
and waste of labor, to deepen canals and ditches merely to obtain 
from the bottoms, theunder-stratum of clay, to be applied as manure 
to the rich surface. If the ditches were opened deeper and on a 
uniform plan, they might be farther apart, and fewer in number 
than are deemed necessary now. The better di-ainage of every 



THE MATTAMUSKEET SWAMP LANDS. 2-31 

farm, and the extension of good drainage and cnlture over nincli 
land now left waste, besides the main and direct benefits, would 
prevent much of the moisture of tlie air, as well as of the earth, 
which is now so great an evil. It is from this cause, as I infer, 
that all the grain here produced, with evei'v care nsed, is more or 
less damp after being housed, and is especially liable to be heated, 
or otherwise damaged in l)arns, or subsecpientlj in vessels, when 
carried to market. Further, by general better drainage, there 
would be great improvement to health, and abatement of the exist- 
ing plague of myriads of mosquitoes — which latter is the greatest 
existing annoyance of the whole locality. 

From the existing conditions of the land and the waters of this 
lake region, every stranger would infer the general and worst effects 
of malaria, in producing disease and death. But I was assured that 
such was not the fact, and that the residents suffered but little from 
autumnal diseases. And this I could readily believe, even after 
making proper allowance for the too favorable view, as to health, 
which every man takes of his own place of residence. The peo- 
ple I saw had the appearance of enjoying at least ordinary good 
health. Among the number I saw there were three neighboring 
resident proprietors, each of seventy or more years of age, and then 
in good health. Few of the residents remove to or visit the high 
lands in the Autumn, and these few for short times, and more in 
pursuit of pleasure than health. Kevertheless, admitting, as I 
believe is true, that the lake lands are much more healthy than the 
low main land (and what is called dry land) of Eastern Korth Car- 
olina, still much improvement, even in this respect, would be made 
here by a general system of prover drainage. 

In the total omission of all rest for the fields, and of all manuring 
crops, (excepting the secondary crop of peas among corn, which is 
mostly consumed by hogs,) it is a necessary consequence that much 
of the old land has l^een considerably reduced in production, from 
by fifty to seventy years of such exhausting culture. Still, no ces- 
sation of grain cropping is permitted. And it is but in rare cases 
that any more manure is made than the farmer cannot avoid being 
obtained from his confined animals — or that half of this small 
amount is carried out and apjilied to the fields, before the other half 
is wasted by decomposition, and the gaseous results are carried off 



232 SKETCHES OP LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

into the air. Tiio large stoclcs of hogs, when not gleaning the grain 
fields, are in the roails, which are all t'eiicetl lanes. Tiiese lanes, 
for three-fourths of the year, are the only enclosures, or daily and 
nightly quarters f )r all the hogs ; and there is left to waste, and to 
contaminate the air, and that principally near the mansions, all 
their excrements, as well as much of those of the cattle needed to 
bekeut about the homestead. The great summer range for the cattle 
and sheep is on the sand downs left bare of water around the present 
margin of the lake 

The defects of economy in the agricultural habits of this conn- 
try, have in great measure been the results of the great pro- 
ductiveness of ihe lands, even under the actual defective man- 
agement. If the |)roprietors would only use the abundant and 
ready means offered by their favorable circumstances, they might 
double the value, and nett profits of their ali'eady very rich and 
productive lands. 

THE SCUPPERNONG SWAMP LANDS. 

Next in extent and production to the drained lands of Matta- 
muskeet, and far superior to them in perfection of drainage and 
tillage, and in other points of interest, stand the drained swamp lands 
on the East side of Scuppernong Lake, and which drain into Scup- 
pernong River. This highly interesting locality I had previously 
visited and examined in 1S39, and theji published in the "Farmers 
Register," a full description of the soil and its natural features, and the 
remarkable improvements efiecred by the intelligence and industry of 
the proprietors. After the long time which had since passed, I have 
recently (in April 1S57,) again seen these farms. My principal 
objects were to see the later extension of the drainage and cultiva- 
tion, and other improvements which had been made, and especially 
to gain information and the best evidence of facts and observations, 
as to the disputed operation of the sinking, or rotting away of the 
swamp soils. Referring for details, and ji;any connected matters 
of interest to my former more full publication, I will here be either 
very concise, or silent, as to matters formerly treated — and describe, 
generally, the present condition of the lands, with as little repetition 
as admissable of any matters which have been treated of before. 



THE SCUPPERNONG SWAMP LANDS. 233 

Lake Scuppernong, (formerly called "Phelps,") is from six to 
seven miles in diameter, and of irregular roundish oval circumfer- 
ence. This, with the neighboi'ing hikes, Alligator and Pnngo, 
occupy a part of the highest level oT the great swamp region of 
North Carolina, covering the four Counties of Washington, Tyrrell, 
Hyde and Beaufort, and the peninsula lying between Albemarle, 
Pamlico and Croatan sounds. Lake Scuppeiuong is divided nearly 
equally by the line between Washington and Tyrrell Counties. 
The lake is on the border of the highest swamp i:>lateau^ and from 
its northeastern side the surl'ace of the laud slopes downward to 
the Scuppernong Kiver, which is fiom four to seven miles from the 
lake. On the upper portion of this slope, and bordering on the lake 
for some seven miles, is the body of drained land now uuder consid- 
eration. The cleared and tilled land now makes nearly five thou- 
sand acres, belonging to some five or six different proprietors — but 
which is in one connected and comi^act body. The only exceptions 
are the pieces of wood-land left for farm use on each separate 
property. The general plan of drainage is the same on all the 
farms. The difference of level, of the margin of the lake (where 
the land is highest,) and the Scuppernong river is eighteen feet. 
Of course, the "fall" and discharge for the drainage waters, and 
the rapidity of the descent, are as great as could be desired. And 
the immense quantity of water (derived from the immediate sup- 
plies by rain only,) which this soil held before being drained, and 
the prodigious quantity now continually discharged, are astonishing 
and convincing evidences of the great power of such soils to attract 
and retain water. 

Before any drainage had been attempted, and also now after all 
that has been done, the height of the lake water has varied by three or 
four feet only at different times — and sometimes for years together — 
as the seasons were either extremely wet or dry. With the earliest 
efforts to drain these swamp lands, by ditches, there was also as 
much required a low embankment along the high margin of the 
lake, to prevent its highest water from over-topping even the 
high margin. And to make and keep up such long embankments 
(which now make the firm and beautiful road and avenue along the 

30 



234 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

lake border,) was the heaviest tax on the labor of the earliest drain- 
ers and improvers. Subsequently, the oldest and great Collins 
canal was excavated, from the Scuppernong river to and into the 
lake, and draining thence as much water as the capacity of the 
canal would receive, or rather as much as it was permitted to re- 
ceive. This oldest canal is over six miles long (from lake to river,) 
twenty feet wide, and four feet deep where most shallow. The 
water in this canal, when the lake stands highest, would have 
eio-hteenfeet of perpendionlar descent. Of this amount of descent, 
six feet is the measure of the lirst quarter of a mile from the edge 
of the lake — the slope of the land being there so much greater 
than farther downward. Therefore, it is evident, that if through 
even one such canal, the lake water were permitted to flow unre- 
strained, that the water received would be more than could be dis- 
charged through the more gradual slope of the remoter surface — 
and that these lower lands would be submerged. It was expected 
at first that the canal, even as limited and restrained, would draw 
off so much water as to greatly reduce the height of the lake. But 
this was not the object of the proprietors, and neither has there 
been any such appreciable result. Although another similar canal, 
of fifteen feet width, was aftei-wards constructed by Mr. E. Petti- 
grew, all the discharge which both these canals cause have not 
served to make any sensible and certain diminution of the height 
of the lake. I infer that there must be some diminution ; but that 
it is so small compared to the effect of dry seasons that the sepa- 
rate and continual and regular operation of the canals, in lowering the 
water, cannot be seen, or correctly appreciated. 

The main objects of these canals were, 1st, to receive and dis- 
charo-e the water from all the ditches of the respective farms ; 
2ndly, to afford transportation by water, to the river, for the pro- 
ducts of the farms , and 3rdly, to furnish abundant water-power to 
work mills and all other necessary machinery. The first and most 
important object is best advanced by the supply of water from the 
lake being excluded, and the canal having to convey no more than 
the drainage water from the bordering fields. The second and 
third objects only require a moderate and limited supply of water 
from the lake. And all three of these objects would be frustrated, 
if the canals were allowed to run full, or to take in as much water 



THE SCUPPERNONG SWAMP LANDS. 235 

from the lake as their capacity would a Imit. Thus, it may be un- 
derstood, tliat so far as the drainage of tlie land is concerned, the 
canals draining water from the hike does no good whatever, and is 
sometimes detrimental. For whenever it is necessary, for purposes 
of navigation, to let the canals run much fuller than usual, the 
drainage of all the lower lands along the canal is obstructed for the 
time, because the height of the water is too near to the level of the 
surface of the land. 

Besides these two oldest canals, tliere have been excavated in 
latter years three others, of still larger discharge, and for draining 
from the land only, and which do not comrnunicaie with the lake, 
or receive any water from it. All these new canals convey as much 
water as their dimensions will pass, and discharge much water even 
in the dryest times — and yet all the canals do not afford enough 
discharge for wet seasons. One of tliese new canals was construc- 
ted by Mr. Collins — for another farm in this body — which at its 
beginning, and on tlie highest ground, is but six feet wide, and 
widens to thirty feet, on the lower and more level ground, and to 
the river. Another, dr.g by Mr. Charles Pettigrew, increases in 
the same manner from six to twelve feet, which it is for much the 
greater part — and in one place, where passing through a sandy 
knoll, or ridge, it is twenty-two feet deep, and more than fifty f^et 
wide at top — and must be made wider, either by excavation or by 
caving in of the sides. Another canal of Mr. Pettigrew's, made to 
receive and carry off the water coming in from the "Dismal," (as 
the great undrained body of swamp is called,) is thirty feet wide, 
and four feet deep at least — and which is not of sufficient capacity 
by one-half This is designed to be made both wider and deeper. 
These enormous works, necessary in advance of any effectual drain- 
age, serve to explain the fiict that millions of acres of the richest 
and best swamp lands still remain unreclaimed, and which may be 
bought even now at low prices — and which, in former times could 
not have been sold for ten cents the acre. The purchase money to 
be paid for such land is nothing compared to the enormous cost re- 
quired for the draining, clearing and bringing the land under culti- 
vation. Whenever the land is part of a much greater "Dismal" 
lying as high, or higher, and all saturated or overflowing with water, 
the proprietor has not only to take off the water from his own land, 



236 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

but to exclude the surplus water from the surrounding lands, and 
perhaps water coming from miles of disLance. Hence, no small propri- 
etor, unable to command an adjacent and sufficiently deep outlet, 
can reclaim his own property, surrounded, oi* nearly sui-rounded by 
similar swamp lands, unreclaimed. But for large spaces, which 
will justify expensive and large canals, no investments and opera- 
tions will i)ay better proHts. And these successful and profitable 
enterprises miglit be undertaken by numerous and even small pro- 
prietors, if the commonwealth, or any other common interest, would 
open a few great and level canals, from one navigable river to 
another, along the best routes for the objects in view, through the 
great "Dismal." The works executed ■ y but three or four individ- 
uals, on the Scuppernong swamp lands, show what may be effected, 
and to great profit, in tliis way. The main canals, here proposed, 
would, in the first place, furnish excellent smooth watoi- navigation, 
for both travel and transportation, between points which are now 
entirely separated, and inapproachable each to the other. Next, 
the earth thrown out of the canal would make an excellent and firm 
road, far superior to the ordinary swamp roads, scarcely passable, and 
in some cases impassable, made of logs covered by earth. And next, 
and which is the main benefit, these canals, if wide and deep enough, 
would 30 f\ir to drain off the overflowing waters of the whole great 
swamp, and offer out-lets for the smaller drains of every neighbor- 
ing proprietor. If such works were constructed at the expense of 
the commonwealth, the cost would be fully repaid to the treasury 
in the increased receipts of taxes, on the new agricultural capital 
and income that would be thus ci'eated — besides the hundred-fold 
greater benefits to general and individual interests. 

The general syslem of drainage of all ihese lands is similar to 
what is in use in all this low country, and which was probably first 
copied from the plan of draining the more southern rice fields. 
The great canals receive the di^ainage water collected by the largest 
ditches, which enter the canal at i-ight-angles, and a quarter of a 
mile apart. Into these larger ditches enter smaller ones, parallel 
with the canal and one hundi'cd and ten yards apart when the land 
is new and most open, and at fifty-five yards wlien it becomes 
close. The rectangular pieces, surrounded by these larger and 
smaller crossing ditches, are ploughed in five feet beds, parallel with 



THE SCUPPERNONG SWAMP LANDS. 237 

the smaller ditclies ; and these beds are crossed, at intervals, by cross- 
furrows, or grips, which are deeper by a few inches tlian the alleys 
of the narrow beds. As this plan of drainage, and also the seem- 
ing objections to it, have been fully treated in preceding publications 
of mine, (especially in Part 11.,) no more will be said on these 
heads here. But, according to this plan, the effect of the drainage 
is good — and no doubt is aided by the general slight slope of the 
surface, in the direction of the beds and the parallel smaller 
ditches. 

The soil near the lake so long as known, has always been of more 
earthy composition, and thinner than farther off. The soil now, 
within three hundred yards of the lake, is only from ten to twelve 
inches thick. The subsoil is a good clay, generally blue when 
moist, in some cases nearly black, and in others whitish blue, and 
still whiter when dry. It is penetrated by the small and rotted 
roots of plants or their open passages. The clay subsoil, where so 
near the surface, is often reached and brought to the surface by deep 
ploughing. I think it would be beneficial thus to mix it with the 
vegetable soil, wherever it can be done by the plough — and per- 
haps it would pay, as manure, if obtained from under the deeper 
soil, by digging ditches into the clay, and spreading it over the 
surface. 

Whatever may have been the cause, the soil near the lake (and 
which Is also the highest surface,) is not only thinner, but is firmer, 
and less like swamp soil than elsewhere. This is not only seen on 
the land long under tillage, but in the adjacent forest land, not yet 
drained. Farther from tlie lake, and on the lower levels of the 
slope, the soil is much deeper now, and was still more so when first 
cultivated, and of more peaty constitution. Still the subsoil is the 
same fine bluish clay— and under the clay there is everywhere a 
bed of sand, which lies so low that it has been rarely touched in 
digging the deepest ditches. 

The original growth of all this now drained and cultivated land 
was mainly of black-gum and cypress, and other trees usually 
growing in company with these. On portions, formerly there were 
groves of unmixed black laurel, with the singular beauty of which 
I was much impressed in my first visit. But by cold winters, or 



238 SKETCHES OF LOAVER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

some otlier cause, these beautiful trees have been since killed, and 
very few are now alive. 

Where fires have swept over the native forest land when it was 
unusually dry, in some cases the entire forest growth was killed, 
and the upper layer of the soil also was burnt und consumed. I 
saw such cases, where the trees so killed had been mostly prostra- 
ted by the ditFerent operations of fire and of winds afterwards, by 
which the land was more effectually cleared than could have been 
by the axe, without fire. And if the drains had been previously 
duo-, such land could be brougiit under tihag-e with a saving of the 
greater part of the usual cost of clearing. But if not brought un- 
der culture, the land so cleared by fire, is covered by a new and 
different forest growth. Over a large space of such land, on the 
farm of Mr. Charles Pettigrew, the second forest growth is of the 
pond pine, (pinus serotma.) without any other kind of pine, and 
scarcely any other kind of tree, other than small shrubs, as the 
gall busli and fetter bush. 

All this soil is more or less of vegetable constitution. And ex- 
tremely rich as it is everywhere, for the first few years after being 
drained and cleared, the land is so loose and puffy, and its vegeta- 
ble matter is so imperfectly decomposed, that the production of the 
land is small compared to its later crops. As the vegetable matter 
is rotted, and the texture becomes closer, the soil becomes more 
productive. But because of the increased closeness of the soil, it 
requires more care in draining. At its then best state, this land is 
as rich as any land can be. But the proprietors do not therefore 
think that it can bear continual cropping, or that it is not benefitted 
by being manured. And not only is the farm-made putrescent 
manure applied — but the land is allowed more rest than I would 
have supposed was required. Lime also, (as might have been in- 
ferred in advance,) has been found especially beneficial. Mr. Col- 
lins has limed al)out seven hundred acres — and in some cases, for 
experiment, has put as much as three hundred bushels to the acre ; 
and in every application has found certain and speedy benefit and 
profit. 

The principal crop is Indian corn, which is doubtless the best 
adapted to this peculiar soil, and is therefore most sure and profita- 
ble in general. Wheat is grown to much less extent, and sometimes 



THE SCUPPERNONG SWAMP LANDS. 239 

produces very heavy crops. Clover, and cotton have both been 
found productive— a sufficient evidence of the soil being well 
drained. Rice also has been made, by dry culture, and as much 
has been raised in that least productive mode, as fifty bushels of 
rough rice to the acre. Tdbacco has been tried, and grew well; 
but the cuied leaves wei-e deemed too coarse and thick. This may 
forbid the producing of tobacco of ])articular qualities — but still 1 
infer that on such ]ich land, other and coarser qualities of tobacco 
might be raised to great advantage. 

In regard to the important question of thesinking, or rotting away 
of these soils, after their being (hained and cultivated, and the rate 
or measure of this process, I will now proceed to state some of the 
evidence, in facts learned from the two resident and principal pro- 
prietors of the cultivated lake lands, Messrs. Josiah Collins and 
Charles Pettigrew. These gentlemen, as residents, occupants, and 
farmers, have knoM-n these lands, and all their changes, throughout 
their adult lives — and by infoi-mation obtained from their respec- 
tive parents who were the preceding occupants and earliest im- 
provers, they are well acquainted Mith the history of the drainage 
operations, and the effects tVom the beginning. There could be no 
better witnesses in leference to their opportunities for observation, 
and their ability to observe and to judge correctly. But it must be 
admitted that very few of even the most intelligent residents and 
agriculturists of all this great swampregion have hei-etoforeeven sus- 
pected the existence and prognssof the natural w asting action in 
question — or at least, its lull measure and importance. Many resi- 
dents on similar lands elsewhere, and some of the most intelligent, of 
whom I have inquired on this subject, had never suspected or heard of 
the opinion befoie — and most (tf them remained incredulous as to 
the danger of any such ini])oi'tant loss of the vegetable soil by its 
decomposition. Every pert-on, even the least informed or observant 
knows and admits that these lands, after being drained and tilled,, 
become more consolidated and close. This universally understood, 
effect is ascribed to the joint operation of two causes : 1st, the dry- 
ing of soil before saturated and distended by water, and the conse- 
quent contractit)n of the parts, and general "settling" of the surface ; 
2iKlly, the later and gradual decomposition of the coarse and loose 
fibrous matter, which at first makes the larger portion (in bulk) 



240 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

of the upper soil, and which, by its decay, is reduced to closer and 
more compacl and apparently earthy texture. Nearly all persons 
are ready to admit, from these causes, an early and limited settling 
and sinking of the surface, of a few inches only, or to such small 
extent that no importance was ever attached to the result, or any 
loss of value feared. But no one formeily, and few even now, 
woald suppose that the rotting away, and waste of soil would pro- 
ceed farther, and much farther, by the complete decomposition, 
and resolving into the primary gaseons elements, and escape into 
the air, of much of the vegetable pai'ts of the swamp soil. This is 
the natural and gradual operation which I maintain, and which 
will be greater or less in the measure of effect in proportion to the 
large amount of vegetable matter in the soil, (and its being not 
combined with the soil, as small proportions may be and usually 
are — ) and to the extent of conditions favorable to the progress and 
completion of decomposition. Even the very intelligent and long 
experienced observers whose knowledge and testimony as to facts 
I shall cite, have not thence deduced, nor apprehended, any such 
injurious final results as seem to me inevitable. And lest my gen- 
eral proposition shall be improperly extended in the application to 
particular cases, and especially in reference to these lake lands and 
other like swamp soils, let me here state some general limitation. 
How much of oi'ganic or vegetable matter, any soils can combine 
with, and hold as useful constituent parts, I profess not to know. 
But I have no doubt that whatever may be such proportions, in 
different soils, so much of the organic matter will remain to the 
soil, without danger of waste, under a proper and lenient system of 
culture. But if there be in the soil a far greater proportion of veg- 
etable or putrescent matter than the soil needs, or can combine 
with, then that all the excess, in course of time, will be decomposed 
completely, and pass oif in the final gaseous results of decompo- 
sition — provided that the conditions of the soil are entirely favora- 
ble to the progress of decomposition. Such effects, amounting to 
the entire waste of the whole dried and producing soil, I have ex- 
perienced, and have known in many other cases by sure informa- 
tion, in cases of the embanked tide-marshes of Yirginia. And 
similar facts of the waste (though it has not been so understood, or 
usually even suspected by the proprietors,) of drained juniper swamp 



THE SCUPPERNONG SWAMP LANDS. 941 

lands. Bnt in both those notable kinds of cases, the soils had prob- 
ably nine-tenths of their bulk of pure vegetable matter — and there 
had to rot away but two or three feet of the soil, before the surface 
was sunk to nearly the level of permanent water or wetness. The 
general proposition is the same as to the higher or more earthy, 
and more valuable gum and cypress swamp soils of Lake Scupper- 
nong. But these surfaces even if capable of being so much lowered 
might sink four or six feet, and yet be high enough for good drain- 
age — their earthy parts may be sufficient to combine with and so 
retain an abundant proportion of vegetable parts, for the highest 
measure of fertility — and further, their snbsoil of clay may of itself 
constitute a fertile, and certainly a permanent addition to the soil, 
should the latter waste away to any conceivable extent. Thus, 
there is nothing in my general proposition that would contradict 
the general opinion of the abiding fertility and permanent value 
of what are deemed the best swamplands of the low country. With 
these explanations, stated to guard against misconstruction, I return 
to facts observed and stated by the proprietors above named. 

These gentlemen suppose that their land bordering on the lake, 
and for some hundreds of yards off, was, from the first, of thinner 
and more compact soil than the ground more remote from the lake. 
Not having looked for, or thought of the possibility of considerable 
lowering of the surface there, they speak only upon general opin- 
ion and belief as to the early effects. But since their attention has 
been called to the subject, tliey have learned nothing to make them 
sure that there had or had not been a lowering of this higher sur- 
face of the sloping area. 

As to the surface more remote from the lake, and lower down 
the slope, there is no question of there having been a general low- 
ering of the surface, varying in difierent places from more than one 
foot to more than three feet of depth. Of the many particular 
facts noted by one or both of these gentlemen — and of which some 
(in wood-land) remained to be shown to me — a few cases will be 
sufficient to cite, as examples. 

On each of the lake farms on which these gentlemen severally 
reside, there is a piece of land left under its original forest growth, 
to supply fuel, &c. These pieces are surrounded by some of the 

-31 



242 SKETCHES OP LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

larger ditches of tlie farms, and tlierefore are partially, and but 
very imperfectly drained, compared to the tillage land. Therefore, 
because of the continued wetness of (at least) tlie under part of the 
fioil, the shading of the surface, and the soil remaining unbroken, 
the decomposition here must have been slow, and imperfect even in 
any length of time, compared to its progress in land well drained and 
under tillage. Yet even in such land, there were visible any num- 
ber of facts which clearly proved that the surface is throughout 
much lower than formerly. Upper roots of old trees are now from 
one to two feet above the surface, which could not have grown at 
first except below the surface. The cypress "knees," or protuber- 
ances which rise from the horizontal roots above the surface, in 
many cases were elevated more than a foot, still higher on two di- 
verging roots — which is never seen on an original surface. The 
lateral roots of living trees, in some cases passed over old logs lying 
now on the surface, and which must have been covered by earth 
when the root passed over. Even young trees, of a few inches in 
diameter, which had sprung up years after tlie partial drainage of 
these lands, showed by their roots that the surfiice had continued to 
sink long since its being drained. The wood-land of Mr. Collins, 
in which we made this examination is from half a mile to a mile 
from the lake. That of Mr. Pettigrew, in which like facts were 
observed, is much nearer — perhaps within a quarter of a mile of 
the lake. 

When a field is cleared up and brought under tillage, usually 
some years after its drainage, and after considerable subsidence of 
the surface, "ground logs," or trunks of trees formerly buried, and 
invisible when the land was first ploughed, continue to show as 
time passes, and require to be removed when they too much ob- 
struct the tillage labors. Mr. Collins in this manner, has had to 
make two successive and general removals of ground logs in consider- 
able numbers, at different times, of which not one was visible at 
the surface many years before, and after the first ploughing. With 
these two successive layers of formerly concealed "ground logs," 
there must have rotted and passed away at least an equal thickness 
of the soil. 

Mr. Charles Pettigrew knew of the lowering of certain parts of 
the surface of his land, of more than three feet. He also stated 



THE SCUPPKRNONG SWAMP LANDS. 243 

anotlier fact, M-liicli is so precise, that there is no possibility of mis- 
take, or of exa2;gerated estimate of the measure of effect. Before 
his father's hil)ors of rechiiminof were beg;un, there liad beeu a larg-e 

0' O 

ditch duL^, and completed to such distance as it was extended, before 
the work was al)andoned in its unfinished state. The "guage," or 
measure by which this ditch had been dug and shaped, had been 
prcscrvei-1, and it was known that its depth was three feet. The 
stumps of trees, cnt off even with the original bottom of this ditch, 
served to show precisely the level of the bottom. In after time, 
one cf the large canals dug by Mr. E. Pettigrew, took in this much 
older ditch ; and it was then seen that the cut stumps, which 
showed the former bottom of the ditch, and which had been three 
feet below the surface, were then even with the surface. Of course 
three feet depth of the upper soil (though so far very imperfectly 
drained,) had rotted away. These facts are sufficient for proofs, to 
sustain m}'- position. If necessary, any number of like particular 
facts could be adduced, but which would not strengthen the proof, 
unless by the greater number. 

I selected sundry specimens of the soils, and some of sub-soils, of 
the swamp lands, to determine the quantities of organic or vegeta- 
ble matter contained, by the proportions destructible by combustion. 
For these partial analyses, and conducted with scientific knowledge 
and skill to which I make no pretensions, I have been indebted to 
Major Wm. Gilham, Professor of Chemistry at the Virginia Military 
Institute : 

SOILS AND LOCALITIES. ORGANIC MATTER. 

1. Soil of Dismal Swamj^, Virginia, under gum and 
cypress forest growth generally, but with some 
juniper, two feet under surface, adjoining Nor- 
folk and Petersburg Eail Road, contains per 

cent, ------ 48.40 

2. Soil of former gum and cypress land, Dr. M. 
Selby's farm, near Lake Mattamuskeet, North 
Carolina, fifteen years under continual til- 
lage, 21.11 

From Swamp lands near Lake Scuppemong, North Carolina, 

3. Land of Josiah Collins, Esq., three hundred 
yards from the Lake, under tillage twenty- 
four vears, and had been limed, 33.28 



844 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

4. Clay sub-soil, under the preceding (2), - - 7.91. 

6. LandofW. S. Pettigrew — under tillage eleven 

years — taken at twelve inches deep, - - - 41.38 
C. Do. second year of culture— at fifteen in- 
ches depth, 61.66 

7. Do. Under forest growth, twelve to fif- 
teen inches below surface, ------ 65.88 

8. Do. In clay sub-soil, two feet under sur- 
face, ------------- 5.28 

9. Charles Pettigrew's land — newly drained and 

cleared of the forest growth, ------ 67.00 

THE "OPEN GROUND" SAVANNA AND DESERT. 

This place known as the " Open Ground," is a body of eighty- 
seven thousand acres of swamp or peat land, belonging to the State 
of North Carolina. Until recently, it has been generally saturated 
with water, and in wet seasons mostly so covered, that in walking 
on any part, every step on the spongy surface would sink deep, and 
every foot-print made would be immediately filled with water. 
This tract lies between Ward's creek and Adam's creek, both of 
which empty into North River. It is in Carteret county, and from 
twelve to sixteen miles from the village and sea-port of Beaufort. 
Nearly the wiiole of this great savanna, except some pine-covered 
ground in narrow strips on the margins, is destitute of trees, and 
nearly so of bushes, and of any shrubs of as much as two feet high. 
Not far from the outside pine land where I entered the savanna, 
there are within it many widely scattered small pines, none more than 
twenty-five feet high, and mostly under ten feet — and all of which 
seem nearly dead, and many entirely dead. The fires, which have 
frequently passed over this land have been sufiicient causes why neither 
trees nor shrubs should live long, as by every successive fire, they 
would be mostly killed down to the surface of the soil. The 
whole of the savanna was a miry and quaking bog, until the 
partial draining operations of the State, effected a year ago, [in 
1S55.] 



THE "OPEN ground" SAVANNA AND DESERT. 245 

The peculiar features of this great savanna, had been the cause 
of much curiosity and discusssion, as to its value for agricultural 
purposes. Even now, and in tlie neighborhood, opinions on this 
point, are undecided or opposed. The central portion, (here as in 
other great swamps, the highest part,) had been ascertained to be 
twelve feet higher than the tide-water of the sundry surrounding 
creeks which had their highest head-springs in this morass, and 
wiiich thence flowed indifferent directions, outward, to North river 
or its tributary creeks. There was plenty of fall for good and ef- 
fective drainage, which fact, as well the result of the practical trial, 
w^ould show that the drainage is simple and easy. The entire ab- 
sence of trees and shrubs w^ould render the clearing for tillage (af- 
ter draining,) very cheap, compared to clearing off" the heavy forest, 
of most swamp lands. If then the land w^ere rich, like many of the 
wooded swamps, or even half as rich, this land would be of im- 
mense value for tillage, or (as might have been inferred,) more cer- 
tainly for pasturage. 

To test the effect of drainage, the government of North Carolina 
appropriated five thousand dollars to be expended for works of lim- 
ited extent. Under a contract for this purpose, last summer a ditch 
of ten feet wide and about four in depth, was brought up from 
Ward's creek (tide- water,) to the higher part of the savanna, and 
then a mile square, ditched around, by ditches apparently five feet 
wide and three deep. Through the middle of this square the large 
ditch passed, and into which the smaller surrounding ditches emptied, 
and through which they are discharged into the creek. Thus, 
the square mile is divided by ditches into two rectangular pieces, 
each a mile long and half a mile broad. 

I visited this ground on July 3rd, 1856. The weather then had 
been very dry, for some weeks. There was not much water then 
flowing from the deeper central ditch ; and the bottom of the others, 
for the longer stretches of their higher parts, were without enough 
water to flow. The land included within the ditches, and as far as I 
examined outside also, was perfectly dry at the surface. If fire had 
been then applied, I am confident that the whole upper layer of 
soil, for some inches at least, would have been burnt oft'. Long 



246 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

ago, but after the ditching, and before much drying of the land 
had been yet caused, a fire that burnt over the dead or dry growth 
also burnt up much of the banks of the shallower ditches, and in 
many cases spread some ten feet off, consuming from four to eight 
inches depth of tlie original soil. At this time, dry as is the sur- 
face, and covered in all lower spots, by dead and dry moss, {qhog- 
nnm ixdvstrc) but a few inches deptli of soil would burn, as damp 
earth was still near below. But if the ground escapes being burnt 
over for a year or two more, and it should then be fired after a long 
dry season, the drained square mile, and much also of the surround- 
ing ground, will be burnt out some feet in depth. And then if the 
lower ditch should be choked, the burnt and excavated sj)ace will 
become a lake, as has occurred from the same operation of burning 
in sundry other of the great swamps without the aid of any previ- 
ous drainage. 

The upper layer, of about two feet, is mostly a mass of matted 
roots, of which but few have rotted enough to even appear to the 
eye as soil or earth. Wherever thei'e remained on the surface of 
the ditch-bank a sod of tliis layer, as cut and thrown out by the 
spade, and exposed to a year's rains, the finei- parts were washed 
from the upper surface, the small fibrous roots, still unrotted, only 
were visible, and the whole lump, with its earthy parts and with 
still some remaining moisture below, was light enough to float in water 
like a cork. Below this layer, was one of about one and a-half 
feet, which, as seen well exposed all along the ditch sides, seem- 
ed to the eye to be good and rich black soil, of close grain and 
texture, and free from fibrous roots, except a few, and those well 
advanced in decay. This layer at least, for its shght depth, seem- 
ed to ofi'er a rich agricultural soil, though of course still a soil of 
vegetable formation. The dry lumps of this layer, where remain- 
ing on the banks, and where not charred by the fire which had 
consumed the dry sods of the upper layer, preserved their earthy 
appearance, and were very hard, and of black color. But when 
thi-own into the water, with enough force to be Punk below the 
surface, these lumps, also would immediately rise, and float. 
How long they would continue to float I did not stop, (for want of 



THE " OPEN ground" SAVANNA AND DEESliT. 247 

time) to notice. After being thoroughly moistened, doubtless they 
would sink ; and also when thoroughly saturated and distended by 
water, this earth w^ould again be as heavy as in its former state of 
soft mire. 

Below the last layer, and as exposed generally in the deeper 
digging, is the sub-soil of nearly pure sand, and yellowish color, 
showino; an admixture of iron. The former saturatim? water hav- 
ingbeen ferrugineous, probably served to render still worse the qual- 
ity of the peat above, as soil. In the shallower surrounding ditch, 
most remote from the outlet, none of this sand-bed was visible, and 
the lowest earth showed (on the bank,) a reddish brown tint, more 
like clay than sand. If anywhere the under-layer is of clay, in- 
stead of sand, it would add much to the little promise of agricul- 
tural value. I had no means, and indeed no time or inducement, 
to dig deeper in the ditches, to seek for the surface and the kind of 
the bed next below, whei-e it was not visible in the ditches. Neith- 
er did I subject specimens of the two layers of soil to any more rio-- 
orous test than their being floated in the ditch water, to ascertain 
how large a proportion of their weight is of vegetable, and there- 
fore, of combustible matter. What I saw satisfied me that the land 
is, so nearly worthless for tillage, that it was not w^orth — (from 
one having no interest but curiosity) more troublesome and accu- 
rate examination of the physical and chemical constitution of the 
savanna. 

Many persons, in this neighborhood have confined to this time to 
entertain high estimates of the possible value of this laud. Since 
the ditching of last summer, sundry proposals have been made to the 
Literary Board, and refused, to purchase portions of a few thous- 
and acres each, at different prices oflered from ten cents to twenty- 
five cents per acre ; and one dollar for one or two thousand acres of 
the ah-eady drained portion. I have since heard that the last offer 
has been accepted. Before my seeing the land, and when knowing 
no more than I could gather irom the published report of the State 
Agricultural Surveyor, (made some years ago,) and my own suppo- 
sition as to the manner of formation and the constitution of the soil, 
I had formed a very low estimate of the possible agricultural value. 



248 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

Still, I thought that such land, even with very imperfect and cheap 
ditching would at least make valuable pasturage, capable of well 
supporting many thousands of cattle, and yielding large numbers 
sufficiently iiittened for sale for beef. And, if profitable at all for 
tillage, that the total absence of trees and shrubs would, after 
draining and a superficial burning, make the ploughing easy to 
perform. Under these impressions, and before seeing the savan- 
na, if it had been ottered to me for ten cents the acre, I would have 
bought the whole, at a venture. But it required but little of my 
walk of four miles along the ditch banks and the adjacent ground, 
to dissipate all my ideas of such accruing profits. I would have 
expected, even if before the partial drainage, and still more after- 
wards, to find there grazing the cattle of all the surrounding resi- 
dents and farms, if not many more from greater distances. Instead 
of this, not one grazing animal was seen, nor do I believe that 
there was one on all the immense savanna — and for the good and 
sufficient reason that there was no grass or other food for the sup- 
port of a single cow. I did not notice a single tuft of any apparent- 
ly good grass. Yet there is enough growth of some other kinds to 
render the whole surf^ice one impasable thicket, if the fires could 
be kept off for but two successive summers. The present living 
plants, except their roots, are all the growth of the present season, 
produced since the last fires killed everything above ground. The 
principal plants observed, were what seemed something like a 
species of huckleberry bush, and other shrubs, very young and not 
known to me — and a species of China brier (called bamboo,) which 
is a strong and hard vine covered with numerous small and sharp 
thorns. This growth stands everywhere, and if it had not been so 
young and small, would have effectually barred my progress. There 
were scattered spires of the bunch-topped, (or wet-land) broom- 
grass — many of the curious trumpet plant {saraceiiia fiava) which is 
a natural bug trap, and some of the kindred pitcher plant — with 
other flowers of weeds of wet and sour savanna lands. But the 
plant which had formerly covered most space, and though then ap- 
parently dead still covered every small depression, where water had 
formerly stood, and perhaps half of the entire surface, is the bog 



THE "OPEN ground" SAVANNA AND DEESRT. 243 

inos^, {■sphagnum pidu^tre,) wliicli, by its general growtl?, and its tan- 
nin, and its astringent and acid nature resisting decomposition, 
serves more tlian all other plants to furnish material for tlie forma- 
tion and growth of peat bogs. Tliis moss is now everywhere dead 
andd.'-y, and its reniainsmakeakind of thick carpet, the parts cement- 
ed or felted together, clo-^ely covering all the spots where mossgrew. 

There was allorded, in the efieets of the burning, evidences still 
more strong of the worthlessness, or intractability of the npjier layer, 
under any attempt at tillage. In consequence of the partial dry- 
ing of the land, much of the ditch banks had last year been burnt 
oil', and the fiie in so.ne parts had spread a few yards, into the ad- 
joining ground, and had coiisumed the upper part to the depth of six 
to eight inches. This would have been the ver}^ process deemed 
best tor »>rej)aring for and facilitating ploughing — audi had thought 
(in advance.) would have given a clear and fiiable layer of earthy 
texture for the plough to operate in. Every living root had indeed 
been kilietl in the burnt spots. But the following rains had wash- 
ed the exposed tibious roots and made the few earthy particles sink 
or disappear — so that the new surface as low beneath as my fingers 
• could reach, seemed not less a mat of tough unrotted fine fibrous 
roots, than the former surface layer, was, where not #nrnt. In 
either, the good o]ieiation of a plough would be impossible, before 
an upper layer of these roots shall rot. 

The whole surface, so far as I saw and trod upon, was quite dry, 
but soft and spor.gy, and so yielding to footsteps as to render walk- 
ing thereon even moredifficult and laborious than on the very rough 
and alr:o soft and yielding banks of the ditches. 

The whole broad surface of the " Open Ground" presents a sin- 
gular and remarkable scene of desolation and solitude. There was 
no appearance that any human being had gone as far into the ground 
as the remoter ditches, since they had been finished. The tracks of 
a large bear, and a raccoon were seen in the soft mnd in the ditches. 
But not a living creature was seen, exce])t a few small frog?; in the 
ditches and a few water-frequenting insects (like sn all dragon flies) 
hovering over the water. "Whether it was owing to i he bi-isk breeze, 
or to the absence of all aninuils to serve for the supj ort of mosqui- 
toes and biting flies, it is certain that I saw neither iu the savanna. 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &o. 



PA.ET ^I. 



NOTES ON THE PINE TREES OF LOWER NORTH 
CAROLINA AND VIRGINIA. 



Pines made a large proportion of the trees of the primitive for- 
ests of the eastern and lower lands of North Carolina and Virgi- 
nia. And when any of these lands had been cleared and cultiva- 
ted, exhausted and abandoned, then a new growth of pines form- 
ed the universal unmixed cover. As neaily all the lands of lower 
Virginia had been thus treated, and in succession had reached this 
second growth, which thus covered all the then poorest and most 
worthless lands, a general cover of pines, and the term " pine old- 
fields," came to be generally understood as indicative of the poor- 
est and meanest of lands. For this reason, and also because of th» 
growth of pines being so common and pervading, these trees wer* 
not only undervalued, but despised. If a natural forest of various 
trees was thinned out to make an ornamental grove near a man- 
sion, every noble pine would be certainly cutout, as if a deformity, 
and a worthless cumberer of the ground. In planting trees for the 
embellishment of homesteads, if any proprietor had in select-pai*t 
ed any of our native pines for that purpose, his taste would have 
been deemed as ridiculous as it was novel and strange. For the 
most magnificent pines, or the unmixed evergreen of a pine for««t 



252 SKETCHES OF LOWER NOKTII CAROLINA, &C. 

in v'inter, to be admired, it was requisite that the observer should 
be a stranger, ironi sonie distant Rgiun, iu wliielj })ine trees and 
pine forysts were not known. Then, indeed, and in all sneh eases, 
their rerMurkable beauty and gtandeur would be Jully ueknowledg- 
ed and felt. 

AH of the many sjiecies of pines have the propertie.^ of being res- 
inous, beuiing their seeds iu coi.es; which, however varying in 
size and form, have a close general resemblance, and there is a like 
general similarity of (shape, dilliiring Ironi all otlier trees, of their 
peculiar evergreen leaves. These spring lioni slienths, or are lield 
in clusters of two, three or n.'ore leaves to each slieath, accoiding 
to the S])ecies of the tree. The leaves, diliering from all otheis. ex- 
cept of the kindled huuiiy of the lai-.'h, ;;:e loiigand .^lendei, almost 
as thick as their width, and of e(ptal diamcler thioiighout their 
length, except immediately at the extremity, wliich is a !>luiip jioint. 
The new leaves, as on otiier trees, grov.- only on tlit; new twigs (or 
' water-sprouts') which shoot out in ihet-piing lioui the last 3eaj's 
buds. But the leaves of the i)receding yeiii'.-* giowtb umain at- 
tached to the older branches through a second siunnier, if not tbe 
autumn also. In some species the haves son.etimesin part remain 
into the third year before dropping oil' entliely. 

Some of our species of pines are ol'sudi distinct and marked 
aopearance, that the most careless obsei vt r would nut iail to distin- 
guish them. Such are the souihein ii-i'g-h, alpine, {[iiuvs ai^stral/s.) 
the Jersey pine [p. itiops.) and llie white pine, (/y. atroLus.) But 
many farmers who have long live cl on ci(iii\at(d lands, aujong pines, 
have not learned always to disnnj.rii.-li oilier still ihoie coniUjon 
species. And even when this knowhdge is not v.i;!iting. still there 
is such confusion and Uiis.ipplication ol the Aidgar nan. is of all the 
kinds, that it is difficult for any one to speak oi or to inquire con- 
cerning any one pine, by the vulgai' nan.e ol liis own m i^hboihood, 
without the name being misapplied by an aiiditor honi another lo 
CHility. Thus, the name "yellow j>ine," in diiinetit iilaces is used 
for three different species, of all of whicli the hcait-v.ood is more 
or less yellowish. The nanic "•spruce }iine" is u.'<.d in Virginia lor 
c»e species of pine, and farther south lor another. And the &evc- 



NOTES ON THE PIXE TKEES. 253 

r.il designations of " long-leaf pino," "short-leaf," '• old-field pine," 
&c.. are nieivly terms relative, or used in contrast with other ditier- 
eut growtlis, and are e;ich applied to diilerent kinds in dillerent 
places. Even the botanical names, though serving generally for 
exact d(vsignation, in most cases have either no special ai)plieation, 
or are entirt'iy eri'oiii'ous as to their iiieaniu,i;s. ►Siicli are the desig- 
nations " ;/i /'//'. v," " //7^>y;.s-," and especially '' ptiluslris,'''' as descriptive 
terms of s[)ecies. Finther, the ([nalities and value lor timber, and 
even appeuaui-e of pines of the same species, are so much varied 
by dilfei'ent conditions of situation and gi-<j\vth, that sonw of the 
most experienced and intellig( lit " timber-gettcis" oi- " liiiiibeiers") 
consider as two distinct siiecies, tiees which belong to the same. 1 
have, myself, until recent I}', been under son;e of these mistakes as 
to the species with which I had longest been fauiiliai". Under such 
circumstances I cannot even Jiow be confident of a\oiding errois. 
But even my mistakes, (if corrected by others better inloiUK d) as 
well as my correct desci'i})tions and (ksignations, may serve to clear 
away much of the obscui'it}' and error in which this subj( ct has 
been involved. 

One of the most remarkable and valuable qualities of some of 
the pines is, that their winged seeds are distrilnited by winds to 
great distances, and in gi'eat numbers so that every abandoned field 
is speedily and thickly seeded, and the kind of pine which is most 
favored by the soil and situation, in a few years covers the ground 
with its young plants. The growth, especially of the most comniOn 
second-growth pine, {[i. tula,) is astonishingly lapid, and even on 
the pooi-est land. And while other land might still be bare of trees, 
that which favors this uiowth would l)e again under a new and 
neavy. though young, giowth of pines. This oilers, (especially 
in connexion with the use of calcareous manures,) the most 
cheap, rapid and etlectual means foi' great im[)rovement of i)oor soils. 
And besides this greatest end, the cover ot the more mature wood, 
if marketable for fuel, will otit^r the quickest and greatest return 
of crop tliat could have been obtained fiom such poor and exhaust- 
ed land. 

I will now proceed to remark on each of the several species of 



$54 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

j)ines found anywhere in the region in view, and will commence 
with such as are most easily and certainly to be distinguished, be- 
fore treating those less distinguishable, or in regard to which there 
may yet remain any doubt or uncertainty. 

The Long-Leaf or Southern Pine. Pinus Australis of Michaux, 

Palustris of Linnociis. 

The name palustris, notwithstanding its high authority, is altogeth- 
er inappropriate, as this pine prefers diy soil and is rarely seen, and 
never iu perfection, on wet or even slightly moist ground. Austral- 
is is peculiarly appropriate, as this tree is limited to a southern 
climate. 

This species barely extends a few miles north of the southern 
boundary of Virginia, in the south-eastern counties of Southampton 
and Nansemond. Few, if any, stand in the lower and wetter lands 
of the more eastern countiesin the same southern range. The long- 
leaf pine prefers dry and sandy soils, and is found, ahnost without 
interruption, says Michaux, " in the lower Carolinas, Georgia and 
Florida, over a tract of moi-e than six hundred miles, from north- 
east to south-west, and more than one hundred miles broad ;" but 
not, (as that author also sjiys,) I'rom the sea to the mountains, or 
near to either, in North Carolina. In that State it extends west- 
ward not nmch higher than the fiills of the rivers, and towards the 
sea, no farther than the edge of the broad border of low, flat and 
moist land. Its general and best growth also equally indicates a 
sterile soil. The mean size, sixty to seventy feet high, with a near- 
ly uniform diameter of fifteen to eighteen inches for two-thiids of 
the height. Some trees are much larger and taller. Leaver ten to 
twelve inches long, (fourteen and more on some young i rees,*) 
growing in threes, (to each sheath,) and about one-sixteenth to one- 
thirteenth of an inch in breath. The cones fiom seven to eight 
inches long, and two to two and a-iialf broad before opening, of the 
scales or seed-covers, or four inches when spread open. The seed- 



* I have since found and measured leaves nineteen and a-lialf inches long, in Barnwell, 
iSonth Carolina. 



NOTES ON THE PINE TREES. S55 

covers of the cones armed with short, strong and not very sharp 
spurs. The seeds, when stripped of their shells, are white and 
harger than a common grain of wheat, and are of agreeable taste, 
having a resinous flavor. They ai'e so eagerly sought for by hogs, 
that scarcely any are left on the ground to germinate. For this 
cause, as well as the great destruction of the trees, in tapping them 
for turpentine, these pines are rapidly diminishing in number, and 
if not protected, this noble species will almost disappear from the 
great region which it has hei'etofore almost exclusively covered and 
adorned. This tree is especially resinous, and is the only pine that 
is tapped for turpentine. Scarcely a good tiee in North Carolina 
has escaped this operation, unless in some few tracts of land where 
that business has not yet been begun. This tree also has furnish- 
ed the best of pine limiber ; but its durability is said to be much 
lessened by the tree, when living, having been made to yield tur- 
pentine. The heart is large and the grain of this timber is close, 
and only inferior in that respect to the short leaf yellow pipe, {p. 
mitis or variab'Iis.) For naval architecture, timber of this tree, 
when large enough for the purposes required, is preferred to that 
of all other pines. 

The broad belt of land stretching through North Carolina, 
which has been covered by the long-leaf pine, except for the bor- 
ders of rivers, is generally level, sandy and naturally poor. Even 
if it had been much richer and better for agricultural profits, the 
labors of agriculture would still have been neglected in the gen- 
erally preferred pursuit of the turpentine harvest. But so poor 
were the lands and so great the profits of labor, and even of the 
land, in the turpentine business, compared to other available pro- 
ducts, that capital thus invested has generally yielded more pro- 
fit than agriculture on the richest lauds. Therefore, it is neither 
strange nor censurable, but altogether judicious, Avhile these great 
profits were to be obtained, that nearly all the labor of this region 
was devoted to making turpentine, instead of enriching and cul, 
tivating the soil. But the efiect of the course pursued has been 
not only to limit agricultural labors to the narrowest bounds, (as 
was proper,) but also to prevent almost every efibrt for improving 
the soil and the productions of the small extent of land under 



256 SKETCHES OP LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &-C. 

tillagG, ILnvGver, the jncture is now reaclie*! \Alieii tliis former- 
ly most [M'oiituUlo tnriieiitiiK^ hiisjiess must be gradually lost ; 
and tlieii auTicn'tiii'i' and iniprovemeiit ol fertility will not only be 
attended to, but will be < s[»ecially I'ewarded in many portions of 
this now poor region, wliieh yet ]u-. mises great resources for be- 
ino; fertilized. Tbc raitid destruction of tbe forests of 1 >n2: leaf 
pine is not oidy the necessary result of the two causes before 
stated, but tne work lias bei i> still n;oi-e I'ajiidly forwarded in 
some place-, by another cause. A^ one time in years past, there 
was a sudden and wide-spread disease of this kind of [)iiie, caused 
by the attack of some insect unknown before or since. Fortu- 
nately the o[ierat'oi:, though fai- extended, Mas not general. But 
wlierever it was, the destruction of the living ti-ees was nearly or 
quite complete. For ihousands of acres of [>iiie f )rest together, 
and in a single summer, evci-y iree was killed, 'i'he evidences of 
such destruction in tlie still st.in ling dead trunks, are now seen 
in many places, and most extensively, as I lately saw, along the 
route of the Wilmington and Alanchester Railwa_y, not many 
miles south of the Cape Fear river. Similar extensive, and as 
transient destructive visitations, had 0( cuired long before. One 
of these I renuMuber to have read of forty years ago, in a com- 
munication tt) ihe Memoirs of the Philadeljihia Agricultural Soci- 
ety. Pii-fial as these (!ei)redati<»ns have been, as to sjiecies, any 
one [tro[irit't or, or many adja' ent ju'opiictors. in the route (f these 
ravages, might have the whole value of their j'ine forests utterly 
destroycil in a few weeks. 

The great l)eauty and .-striking appi-eance (to a stranger) of a 
southei'u pine ti'ee, of gixat size <ind tine firm, are owing to the 
lonii" and straii^'ht and slender truid<. and to the very lonii' leaves 
and large cones. In the close growth of foi'ests, the branches, 
like other old and good tind)er [) nes <>f otliei" species, ai'e crook- 
ed, irregular, rigid and unsightly. But these and all defects are 
overlooked in their forest growth, when all the numerous trees 
make but one great and magniticent o!»jcct, their tops meeting to 
make one great and thick canopy of green, supported, as far as 
the sight can stretch, over the open sjiacc below, ly inimn.erable 
tall columns of the long and straight and naked bodied of the 
pin©». 



KOTES ON TnS PINE TRBBS. f67 

Thr. CcJar Pmc. (Plnus inops.'j 

This pine, like some others, h:is sundry names, and some of 
whieli are also ap[)lie(l elsewhere to otlier species. In Viri^inia it 
is known in difterent j)hK'es as the '•spruce" or " river" or ''ce- 
dar [)ine." Tlie hist vu gar designation, which will be here used, 
has been ajiplied because ot" a slight general resemblance of the 
growth and a[>i)earance of the tree to the cedar; at least more so 
than of any other pine ; and so far the name is descriptive and 
api)ropriate. The most general vulgar name farther north ifl 
"Jersey pine," which is ado[)ted by J\iichaux. 

This pine is generally seen only of young growth and small 
sizes. Where lung establislied, and of largest sizes, in Virginia, 
it is rarely found exceeding tifteen inches in diiinieter. The 
trunk is not often straight enough for sawing into timber. The 
bark is very thin, and also smooth compared to all other pines of 
this region, and the sap wood also is very thin. Of the older 
trees, nearly all the trunk is (^f heart-wood. Tliough the tree is 
but moderately supplied with resin, it makes good fuel, and much 
better than the other pines of Virginia, of new growth and but 
moderate sizes, such as are mostly used for fuel, for market, and 
especially for the furnaces of steam engines. The leaves of this 
pine grow in twos, (from each sheath.) are generally shorter than 
any other kind, usuall}' I'rom one and a-half to two inches, and 
about one-twen.ieth to one-sixteenth broad. The cones usuallj 
are fnnn one and three-iburths to two and one-iourth inches long, 
and three-tbui'ths to one inch thick, when closed. The separate 
seed-covers on the cones have each a small and sharp prickle, 
curved backward. The cones are set dioo})ing backward on the 
brandies ; and they remain so long before falling, that the old 
and the new together sometimes stand on a tree as thick as the 
fruit on an apple tree. The branches are much more slender, 
tapering, and llexible than of other pines, and the general tigures 
and outlines of the well-grown trees are more graceful and 
beautitul. When making the entire growth of a thick wood, and 
on the slope of a hill side, where the tops of the hi-her trees are 
seen above the trees next below, and all thus beet exposed to vi^w, 



S3 



258 SKETCHES OP LOWER NORTH CAROLlNi , &C. 

the foliage and tlie whole growth, so disposed, are siugularlj 
heautiful. 

I have not observed this tree anywhere in I^orth Carolina. It is 
but sparsely set and mostly of young growth in the south-eastern 
parts of Virginia. But the growth is there increasing and spread- 
ing. In Prince George, on and near James Eiver, the young 
trees are far more numerous, and more widely scattered now than 
was the case forty years ago, when I knew them there only on 
some small spots near the river banks. On the lower Appomat- 
tox, in that county, this is now the principal pine growth, and ( f 
its large sizes. In Westmoreland, and the other parts of the pen- 
insula, between the lower' Potomac and Eappahannock, this is 
now the main growth, and the great suppl}- for market fuel, which 
is so great a product and labor of that region. Yet I have heard, 
from Mr. Willoughby Newton, that it is remembered when not a 
tree of this species was to he seen in all the extent of that penin- 
sula. It is now there the regular second-growth pine, which 
first springs on and occupies all abandoned lields, as do the other 
" old field" pines, of difl'erent species, in other parts of Virginia 
and North Carolina. 

The White Pine. {Finus Strobvs.) 

This tree, of beautiful foliage and general appearance, and 
which grows to a magnificent height, is not known in eastern 
Korth Carolina, and is so rarely seen anywhere in Virginia east of 
the mountain^, that it scarcely conies within the limits of my de- 
sio-ned subject for remark. However, it is named for the contrast 
it presents, and thereby setting ofl^ more strongly the opposite 
qualities of other species. But its description need not occupy 
more than a small space. This is the great timber pine of the 
northern states. In travelling westward from the sea coast 
throuo-h the middle of Virginia, this tree is first seen in the nar- 
row valleys of the North Mountains in Augusta county. It is 
there called the silver pine. The small trees are beautiful and the 
large ones magnificent. The bark of the young trees is very 
smooth, (in this differing from all other pines,) and the branches 
spring from and surround the young stems in regular succession, 



ISOTES ON THE PINE TREKS. 269 

and three or four from the same height, on opposite sides, as do 
the young side shoots of dog\yood. The leaves grow in fives, 
(from each sheath,) about four inches long, and very slender and 
delicate, and of a bluish green color, and silken gloss. 

This pine, diiferent from all of the other species growing in our 
region, prefers such fine soils as are found on the alluvial but drj 
margins of rivers, and in mountain glens. — \_Daiiin(jton''s A<jri- 
cultural Botany i\ 

Short Leaf or Yellow Pine. Finns variabilis. {P. mitis of Mi- 

chaux. 

Cones, length one and three-fourth to two inches. Breadth (a» 
closed,) three-fourths to seven-eighths. Nearly smooth, the 
prickles being very short, slender, and weak. Leaves, length, 
on difterent trees, one and three-fourths to three inches ; breadth, 
one twenty-fourth to one-twentieth. The leaves grow mostly in 
twos, (from each sheath,) and many trees, if but slightly examin- 
ed, might seem to show that this was the universal law of this 
pine. But on most trees there are also leaves, in much smaller 
numbers, growing in threes, intermixed with the others. This 
variation is especially apt to occur, partially, on very young trees 
of rapid growth On one tree, of eight inches (Mameter, cut down 
to furiiish specimens of cones, I found so many of the leaves in 
threes, that those in twos did not amount to one in twenty. The 
leaves in threes being in greater number, I have not observed 
elsewhere. Generally, the leaves in twos on any one tree, are 
very tar the most numerous.* All the specimens, from which 
the measurements were made, I gathered in the old forest land of 
Marlb *urne farm, Hanover, Virginina. The lengths of leaves 
on difi'erent trees vary much, and, in some cases, even on the same 
tree and twig, and also the sizes of cones on different trees, as 

* Very lately, (i860) I observed a second growth treejo. variabilis which, in two hundred 
counted sheaths of leaves, had one hundred and ninety-five in twos, and but five in threes. It 
is very uncommon that the disproportion is so great, either in the great number of leaves in 
twos, or of threes, as in the other case stated above. To other than very careful examination, 
the leaves of one tree would have appeared wholly in threes, and of the other wholly in twos — 
and theref jre that neither tree belonged (as in truth both did) to the species of short leaf 
or yellow pine, or p. rarialUi*. 



2ft0 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLrNA, &C. 

well as tlie proportions of leaves in twos and in threes. From 
these marked variations, I am disposed to believe that some trees 
are of hybrid generati(tn, or ci'ossu» between the pure short-leaved 
tree of the species, and the P. tuala. But whether this surmise 
is correct or not, and how- vcr great and m.iny may be the varia- 
tions, this species, notwitiistanding its variations, is easily distin- 
guished by its short leaves in twos, from an\ of the three leaved 
species — and it cannot be mistaken for the cedar pine, (p. inoj).s) 
the only other short and two leaved species, because of the great 
difference of general appearance. The short-leaf yellow pine, (p. 
variabilis,) in middle and most ol lower Virginia, is the great and 
valuable timber pine of that region, and makes the best timber 
of all, because of its more resinous heart-wood and very close 
grain. The most beautiful and highly valued floors of lower Vir- 
ginia, and which are no where eqiallcd, arc made of phink of 
of this tree. Old trees, in original forests, are from two to three 
feet in diameter, and usually are mostly of heart-wood. This is 
very durable. But the sap-wood, if exposed to chariges of mois- 
ture, soon rots, as with all other pines, B\>rmerly, nearly all the 
pines of the original forests in hnvcr Virginia, and in dry and me- 
dium or stiff soils were of this Kind. But as these and other 
trees have been* cut out, and the foie^ts thinned, other kinds, 
(mostly p. tod'hiy and in fewer cases, ^>. inoj/s.) have made most of 
the later growth. And still more, and almost entirely, is this the 
case on abandoned old lields, wherein, though speed; ly covered 
by pines, very few of this species are to be seen. Yet in the up- 
per country, at some distance above die falls, (as in Cumberland, 
Amelia, &c.,) though the abatidoned lields are there also occupied 
by a second growdi exclusively of pines, yet all these are of this 
kind, and scarcely a tieeis seen of the p. (wUa, or the '' old-Held" 
pine of the lower country generally. The same thing I have seen 
in Orange, North Carolina, on abandoned liigh land iields, near 
the head affluents of Is ease river. 

When of recent and rapid growth and especially whcp of second 
growth on land lornierly cleared, this pine is mostly of sap-wood, 
in that respect like the p. tada ; but still the former has more heart, 
and is of more durability, when c*\pcscd to the weather than the 



NOTES ON TIIK PINE TREES. 261 

The yellow pine grows, (or foi-iiicrly grew,) in great pcM-fection, 
but ill (letiU'lied iiiid 8c;ittere(l iiiid liiniTed loctilities, in sundry of 
the upper counties eastot'tiie in(junt;iius in Virginia. But, general- 
ly, in the Piedmont ivgion, at titry nides and farrherabovt? the falls, 
iitiither this no.' any other [)ine grew in the original i'oi'ests. In the 
range of counties next below the falls, it was furnu!rly almost the 
ouly })ine, and also tln^ most common of all trees, of the oi'iginal 
forest growth. It les-en-i in ([Uiiutity, r)r in proportion to other 
species, as we descend towards the sea coast, and also as we go 
southward. After reaching the low, tlat lands neat the sea coast, 
and the southern region where the long-leaf pine first appears, the 
yellow pine is seen but rai'ely. But as fai- south arid east as Pitt 
county, N. C, at one place, and in B.'aufort county, near Wash- 
ington, I saw tluitneai'ly all the forest [)ines, on some spaces, were 
of this species, and of large size anil line fbini. The spots on which 
they thus show, are of diy soil, and, piobably, also more clayey 
than in general, so as to favoi- moie the growth of this than of the 
long-leaf pine. Also, between Plymouth and the great swamp in 
Washington county, N. C, this pine, of huge »mt, and very perfect 
form, and with long and straight trunks, is the main original forest 
growth, on level, stiff scul, which, though firm land, and called dr}^, 
is so low and moist that I was sur[)rise(l to find thereon this kind 
of pine. These fiicts, and especially the last case, go to show that 
a close or clayey soil, oi' sub-soil, has more power to promote the 
growth of this })ine, than it is o})posed by the increased approach 
to southern climate, and low and damp soil, bDth of which are un 
favorable to this pine, and very favorable, respectively, to other 
species. This pine is also seen, in few cases and of bad growth, in 
the always wet and miry, and often overflowed, swamps bordering 
on Blackwater river in Viiginia, south of the Seaboard Railway. 

Lohlollij Pine. {F'lnus lada ) 

This called "long-leal" in the Piedmont counties of Virginia, 
where the "short-leal" is common, and this is rare — and "old-field" 
pine in most ofthe lower counties, where that designation is correct- 
ly descriptive. But as both tlicsiJ provincial uameji are elsewiicre 



262 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

applied to other pines, I prefer tlie vulgar name used in South Car- 
olina, of " loblollx^" which, though unmeaning, will not mislead 
by having more than this one application. 

The loblolly pine {p. tmda) is rarely seen north of Washington, D. 
C. I saw a few on exhausted land near Bladensburg, Mary- 
land, within a few miles of Washington. Proceeding southward 
they become more and more abundant, but do not extend west- 
ward many miles above the line of the falls of the rivers. This 
supposed western limit of its growth, and the supposed cause of this 
boundary, were discussed in Part I. of this series. On all the ex- 
hausted and abandoned naturally poor soils, both dry and moist, 
certainly, and much, also, of the naturfilly good, but exhausted, 
south and east of this upper limit, the loblolly pine springs soon 
and speedily, and thickly covers the surface. With some excep- 
tions already named, where the cedar pine is the common second 
growth, the loblolly pines make the almost entire, and also abund- 
ant, second growth, on these abandoned lands. In the original 
forests, probably, it was formerly rather a scarce tree, as it is still, 
where there has been not much cutting out and thinning of the 
natural forest. It is only as a second growth that tliis pine has be- 
come abundant, and only on all the poorest and worst natural soils 
that it has taken almost entire possession of the ground, and seems 
to exclude other trees, and to thrive in proportion to the base qua- 
lity of the soil — and more especially in proportion to the deficiency 
of lime in the soil. But, also, sandy soil and warm climate are fur- 
ther promotive of this growth; and, therefore, as proceeding south- 
ward, through eastern North Carolina, the loblolly pine, as a se- 
cond growth, thrives more and more in general. I have even seen 
some few large and flourishing pines of this species, on the Rocky 
Point land, which seemed to be certainly calcareous. 

As it is a disputed question, which will be considered hereafter, 
whether the great Swamp or Slash Pine, a valuable tree for lum- 
ber, is of the same species, or different from this, for the present I 
will speak only of such trees as are undoubtedly of the kind known 
as "loblolly" pines. 

These make the general, and in many places the exclusive, 



NOTES ON THE PINE TREES. 2G3 

second growth from some ten or twenty niiles above the lower 
granite falls, to the sea coast. Within these extreme limits, almost 
eve ry exhausted and abandoned space is soon covered by this growth, 
whether naturally poor or rich, of medium texture or sandy, 
wet or dry. The only known exceptions are spots of old cleared 
lands, which, from some cause, were highly calcareous, on w^hich 
the lol)lolIy pine refuses to grow, or if growing, shows plainly an 
unhealthy and unthrifty growth. 

The cones on different trees are from three to five inches lonn-, 
and from one to one and five-eighth inches thick, (as closed.) The 
prickles on the seed-covers, stout and strong, and not pointed very 
sharp. The leaves from five to isevenand a-half inches long, and 
from one-sixteenth to one-thirteenth broad They grow in threes, 
and, as I believe, universally so on trees of considerable size. But 
on trees of but a fevi^ years' age, of rapid and luxuriant growth, 
some few of the sheaths will be found to contain four leaves. But 
this is the excejjtion, and a rare one. The general rule is that the 
leaves grow in thiees. By this rule, though, these trees may vary 
from each other in the lengths of leaves, and sizes and shapes of 
cones, still, all are readily distinguishable from any specimen of the 
short leaf or yellow pine, (j). variahilU;) however near such speci- 
men may approach to other usual characteristics of the loblolly 
pine. 

The grain of this wood is very open, the wide intervals soft, and 
the wood, as timber, of the most worthless description. There is 
very little heart-wood in large trees — none, or almost none, in the 
small — and the heart-wood is but little resinous, solid, or durable, 
as timber. The sap-wood, (when growing) seems much more resin- 
ous than the heart. Trees of two feet in diameter usually have 
but two or three inches of this poor heart-wood. It is only when 
of small growth, and but rai'ely then, that the trunks can be riven 
by wedges, without more labor than profit. When split before 
growing too large, and after being seasoned or well dried, this wood 
makes cpiick burning fuel, of which immense quantities are sold 
to the north, as well as at home, for the furnaces of steam engines 
and other uses. 



SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

"Wi^rtliless and <lo-pisc;l as is tliis troo fin" timber, and for most other 
uses, it is otiu of tliu ^^roatest li!cssiiin's to our country. It I'apidly 
covers, and wirli a thick and lieavv foi-est i;'i'(t\vtli, tlie nuist baiTcn 
lands, which Dtherwise \v<>nld remiiin fn- many years naked and 
iinim|)r()ved by rest. By the fallen leaves, which from this tree 
are very abundant, the imi»<)verishcd soil is ;iiiain sr.pplicd wiih 
the deficient ve;i,'i;tal)le matter, and, with other aid, may be resto- 
red soon to fertilit}'. And the ci'-p of wood, where near enon<i;h to 
market, may be wcn-tli threefold of what would be the value of the 
land, if without tliis jjroduct. 

It is not only on dry o;- arable land that this tix-c <i;rows vigor- 
ously and to a large size. Such may be seen on hind much too wet 
for tillage, and too low ftu- drainage — ason some of the abandoned 
lands near Lake Mattamuskeet, whei'e the surface (.f the ground is 
not more than eighteen inches ab.»ve that of the adjacent waters of 
Pamlico Sound — and where, also, the salt water is raised by violent 
winds and strong tides still higher, and sometimes so as to cover the 
land on which the pines stand. Tiie power of these ti'ees to resist 
such unnatural visitation and changes of condition, and without ap- 
parent injury, is remarkable. 

The Great Swamp Fbic ; or, the Naval Timber Pine. The Slash 

Pine. 

During my first visit to the h-w lands of North Carolina, border- 
in o- on Albem irle Sound, in lS5G,Itirst heard of and saw ])i!ies of 
unusual large sizes and peculiar chai-actei*, and whicli wei'e under- 
stoovl by all of the most expL-rienced and intelligent lumber cutters 
to be of a different kind tVom any of the species I have described, 
or any other known in North Carolina or Virgiina. My princij)al 
source of intormation and instruction, in regard to this pine, was 
Edwaid n. Herbert, of Princess Anne, a gcntle:nan of much intel- 
ligence, a id who has fir twenty years been principally and very 
extensively engaged in contracts to supply to the navy yards of the 
government, tind>er suitaide fu- the coiistructii>n of ships of war. 
In this business he has ex iniined the udiole country and has bought, 
cut and su])plied to the government naval stations, mucli of the 
largest and btst timber, (such only being tit for the ma4s and other 
spars of the lai:ge3t ships of war,) that could be procured in lower 



NOTES ON THE PINE TREES. 265 

Yirginia and North Carolina. He has found no pines of any kind 
except of that now under consideration, hirgo enougli and having 
enough ot heart-wood, to make the masts, spars and other timber of 
the largest required size. It should be observed that the proposals 
advertised for, to suppl}', by contracts, timber for the United States 
navy yards, mention and reci)gnize but two kinds of pine timber, 
"white'' and "yellow pine." The former is of the northern wliile 
pine, (p. sirohus,) and the latter designates especially the long-let.f 
southern pine — but which in usage includes also the short leaf yel- 
low pine, {p. variabilis,) and the great pine now to be described. 
This tree grows only on low and moist land, and is the better for 
timber, and grows larger, in proportion to the greater richness of 
the land. It is the principal and largest timber pine in the original 
forests of all the low, flat and firm, but moist lands, bordering on 
Albemarle Sound, and also farther south — and I have seen it grow- 
ing as well, but much more sparsely, on the rich swampy borders 
of the Roanoke, and in the best gum lands bordering on the Dismal 
Swamp, and some on the low bottom lands of Tau River. Among 
the other gigantic forest trees on the rich and wet Roanoke swamps, 
(on the land of Henry Burgwyn, Esq.,) mostly of oak, gum, poplar, 
&c., the few of these pines which yet remain, tower far above all 
others, (twenty feet or more,) so as to be seen and distinguished at 
some miles distance. I have visited several standing trees and the 
stumps of others that had to be cut down, which measured either 
nearly or quite five feet in diameter, and were supposed to have 
been from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy feet in 
height. But the sizes and heights of the trees may best be infer- 
red from the list below of hewn (or squared) stocks, which was 
furnished to me from Mr. Herbert's timber accounts. These stocks 
were cut in Bertie, North Carolina, and made the whole of one raft 
which was then (May. lS-56,) on its passage thi-ough the Dismal 
Swamp Canal to New York. The stocks were thence to be ship- 
ped to Amsterdam for naval construction, under a contract with the 
Dutch government : 



U 



266 



SKETCHES OP LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &0. 





FEET LENGTH. 


XCHES SQUARE. 


NUMBER OF 
CUBIC FEET. 


1 


47 


'2d 


204 


2 


66 


19 


105 


3 


86 


SO 


537 


4 


79 


31 


527 


5 


8S 


23 


337 


6 


65 


20 


181 


7 


74 


20 


347 


8 


80 


26 


376 


9 


68 


24 


272 


10 


58 


22 


195 


11 


86 


30 


537 


12 


58 


30 


363 


13 


74 


26 


347 


14 


74 


26 


347 


15 


70 


28 


381 


16 • 


70 


27 


368 



But even llie longest ot tlitse stocks (i.> not ii|iiiioutli llie magni- 
tude of one which vvns cut at a previous rin;ein Beitie and sold in 
New York by Mr. Herbert. This was eiglily feet in length and 
thirty-six inches square at the lower end. He sold it to a dealer 
for five hundred dollars, and the buyer re-sold it ibr six hiindred 
dollars. This stock did not retain its stated diaii.tler (at the butt) 
to its upper extremity, but was there from twenty-eight to thirty 
inches square. All these stocks were iieaily all hcait-wood. It is 
required that two-tliirds of tht; surface of each side of every stock 
shall be of heart-wood. Of course this Cduditioii peruiits but little 
sap-wood, and that only in the angles of the squared stocks. 
Thence, also it follows that the proportion of heart-wood in these 
trees must be very large. The limber must be resinous or it would 
not be good, and it must be durable, or it would not serve for the 
masts and other great spars of ships of war, exposed to alternations 
of wetting and drying, and for which the best materials only are 
permitted to be used. Tlie grain of this heart-wood is not general- 
ly very coarse, but more so than the long leaf, and still iuore than 
the short leaf yellow pine. Mr. Herbert, the better to aid my in- 
vestigations, procured from the navy yard of Gosport, a thin cross 



NOTES ON THE PINE TREES. fi67 

section of the stock used for a mast of the United States war steam- 
er Roanoke, which also he liad cut in Bertie. The section is of the 
stock hewed to twenty-seven inches squnre, and of wliicli but a very 
little sap wood was in two corn»'rs of one side only. Asthe tree was 
not entirely straight, the centre of the heart is thrown considerably 
to one side of the centre of the end of the stock, wh<n-e the section 
was cut off. The heait wood was thirty-four and a-half inches di- 
ameter, and contained one hinidred and eighty-six rings, (as 
measured and counted on the wider side, or radius, wdiich, from 
the centre oftheheart, measured seventeen and a quarter inches.) 

The remaining sap wood, three and a quarter inches, contained 
one hundred and sixteen rings, or thirty-two and one-third average 
to the inch. 
Whole number of rings left visible in the stock three hundred and two. 

A radius of three inches from centre, of heart wood, took in nine- 
teen ring maiks. 

A radius of six inches from centre of heart wood, took in thirty- 
four rings, or five and two-thiids average to the inch. 

Theouterinchofsaj) wood,(notoutsideofthetree,)forty-ninering8. 

The outer rings in the sap-wood, visible in the corners, were so 
very close as to be indistinct ; and, perhaps, some of them were 
omitted in the counting, though the examination was aided by a 
magnifying glass. In addition, and which makes a much larger 
omission, neither corner extended to the outer part of the sap-wood 
of the tree ; and, therefore, if only an inch was cut off, it made the 
loss of at least fifty rings and years' growth. It is })robable that 
this tree had considerably more than three hundred rings, indicating 
as many years of life and growth. How much older must have 
been the tree which made the largest stock named, or other trees 
of five feet or more in diameter ! 

With such size and value of this tree, and such marked differen- 
ces from every other pine known in the same region, it is not strange 
that nearly all opinions of the residents, and of those of most prac- 
tical acquaintance with pines and their timber, should have agreed, 
and without exception or doubt, that this was a peculiar species. 
So I learned from every source of instruction, and so I believed un- 
til recently, when the comparison of all my information and person- 



268 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

al observations made me not only doubt tlie fact of this being a dis- 
tinct species, but induced me fully to believe that this tree, of the 
most magnificent and superior size and valuable and remarkable 
qualities for timber, is identical in species with the universally des- 
pised loblolly pine, which is almost without heart-wood, and is the 
most worthless and perishable material for timber; and that great 
age and slower growth, and in some measure a better and a moist- 
er soil, are all that have caused the different qualities and the great 
superiority of the old swamp pines. I know that this opinion 
would be deemed absurd by persons the most acquainted with these 
different trees and their timber. I will proceed to state the grounds 
for my change of opinion. 

When, at first, fully believing (as instructed by others) that this 
swamp pine was a difierent kind, it was necessary thence for me to 
infer that Michaux, who personally and carefully examined so many 
of our forests and trees, and also all other botanists, were ignorant of 
the existence of this noble tree, which exhibits its superior magni- 
tude over so nmch extent of our country. It is probable, indeed, 
that even the laborious and careful Michaux did not, in his travels, 
pass through, even if he entered, the lowland region on and near 
the Albemarle sound — a region which is still almost a terra-incog- 
nita to all other i)ersons than the residents and near neighbors. 
For if these trees had been seen on their natural soil, in their most 
perfect conditions of size and value, whatever might have been 
their species, they could scarcely have passed, as they have done, 
without being mentioned by any botanical writer. If not the ii. 
tcida, these trees cannot belong to any other of the species of this 
country; and therefore, they would the niore attract a botanist's 
attention, and induce particular notice and description, as present- 
ing a new and before undescribed species — or at least new in this 
locality. And if they had been observed, and recognized as the_pi- 
nua lada, a scientific observer, like Michaux, could scarcely have 
omicted all notice of the remarkable differences between these large 
and valuable timber-trees and the ordinary and understood general 
character of that well-known species. If the usually accurate 
Michaux had known this tree, its great size and value for timber, 
;iiid its preferred moist and rich soil — and if he had also known that 



NOTES ON THE PINE TREES. 2(59 

it was the iilnvs taxla, or lobloll}' pine — lie coiild not liave used the 
following exj»i-es.sious, in describing tiie hitter species, as he has 
done, without limitation or exception. He says of the loblolly 
pine : " In the lower partof Virginia, and of North Carolina north- 
east of Cape Fear river, over an extent of nearly two hundred miles, 
grows wlierever the soil is diy and sandy." And again : "It ex- 
ceeds (iighiy feet in height, with a diameter of two to three feet," 
&c. "In trunks three feet in diameter, I have constantly found 
thirty inches of sap wood, and in those of a foot in diameter, not 
moi-e than an inch of heart." " The concentrical circles of the long- 
leaf pine (/y. aiistndia) are tv^'elve times as numerous in the same 
space" [as of the loblolly pine]. " This s})ecies applied only to sec- 
ondary uses [for inferior purposes] ; it decays rapidly when expos- 
ed to the air, and is regarded as one of the least valuable of pines. 
Though little esteemed in America, it would be an important ac- 
quisition to the south of Europe," on account of its rapid growth 
and fine appearance, and use of the timber for "secondary" puiiioses. 
The only pines of the higher range of country which resemble, 
or even approach, the lowland swamp-pine, in character, is what is 
there called the " slash pine," conmion in the higher tide-water 
counties, and growing on high land, but only either in the narrow, 
oozy bottoms, or in the forest " slashes," or shallow depressions of 
the table or nearly level ridge lands. These depressions have a 
close and stiff, though still sandy, soil and sub-soil, seiving to hold 
the rain-water and to convert the depi'tssions to shallow ponds in 
wet weather, in winter and spring, until the collected rain-water 
evaporates in summer. In these very limited spaces, only, grow 
the few slash pines — of large size, and of coarse-graivied, but dura- 
ble and large, heart-timber. This, and also the swamp-pine of the 
low country, have their leaves in threes, and both the leaves and 
cones of the like sizes and general appearance with those of the 
common loblolly pines. For want of botanical knowledge, or any 
aid of instruction from others better informed in these respects, I 
could not compare these trees by their marks of botanical descrip- 
tion and distinction of species. Experienced lumber cutters can read- 
ily distinguish these trees by their general a2)pearance, in respect to 
their value and fitness for timber ; but I have found no one wiio 



270 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

could certainly distinguish them by any differences of their growth, 
and the sizes or sh;ipes of their leaves or cones, from the p. tceda. 
Further, no one can certainly designate eitlier a young swamp or 
slash pine. Tliey are only known as such when old enough to have 
large heart-wood. 

If the loblolly pine will become by sufficient age on ricli soil, a 
*' swamp pine," it may seem very strange that even the largest of 
the former (known to be the loblolly) never show large heart-wood. 
But nearly all these largest trees are of second growth, on aband- 
oned fields, and few have ever reached sixty years old before the 
land is again cleared. And even if left to stand much longer, which 
I have never known, no second growth pine can date farther back 
than the exhaustion and abandonment of the earliest cleared lands, 
or about two hundred years. In the case of the pine for the mast 
of the Roanoke, the latest found ring of heart-wood is certainly of 
growth one hundred and sixteen years old, at least. Of the few 
loblolly trees (admitted to be such) standing in original forests, the 
growth v^'as slower, and for their size, their heart-wood is of larger 
size than those of second growth, on land foimei'ly under tillage. 
Some of these trees will be offered as examples; and, in some cases, 
it would be difficult even for a timber cutter to pronounce whether 
particular trees, which will be named, should be classed as old lob- 
lolly pines, or swamp or slash pines, (according to localities) too 
young, or of too rapid growth, to have huge hearts, or to be good 
for timber. Even where the best of these sw^amp pines are cut 
there are some trees of so much smaller-sized heart;-wood that the 
cutters have found it necessaiy to designate them by such terms as 
" yearling [i.e. youuii] swamp pine," and " bastard swamp pine." 
All these things go to confirm my position, that there is no specific, 
difference between the loblolly and the swamp and slash pines. 

The dimensions, &c., of sundiy trees of this species, which appear 
in the following statement, with but one exception, were observed 
and noted by myself. The list includes trees of second growth, 
which all persons would pronounce to be loblolly pine; others of 
original growth, which are undoubted such as are deemed swamp 
or slash pines, and good timber trees ; and others, which it would 
be difficult for those persons who maintain that there two kinds to 
say to which they belong : 



NOTES ON THE PINE TREES. 



271 



Forest. 


r, md never (denred. 


.dgr./ti 




'S 3 7. --7.: 


-^ '"■-/-,- c 


i\ unilier 


5 f i f^--^ ■•< ■- 


^ III fT -^ ■< ■? 

• ■■< '-s ■■< < ;« r. V. 
; — — ;^ ^ ■-<■<:■<: 

, ■-< '-i; V; [j "5 "^ ~ 

J 2. 


O 

n 
cc 

2 

•3 

o 

o 
"i 

D9 

o 

5 


£; t gfeft^f^r 


a to tc li l^^ " ►-■ t-5 — 
:5 ,j to ►_. — cAi o lo -J 


— . -- to T_ 

^ O *- t- 

. 4^ a 


Jhun ol uunk (exclusive of bark) 
lit height of stump. 


li CO ^ ij to (c : 


r: C3 00 C5 — o-- 4i- C-. to 


Jiameter of heart- wood. 


• P 5?"'f? = ' 


1 C5 Oi '» *. en 5C CC - 


Lotal number of rings in tree, at 
.=tnmp. 


^ i i = 5g^ 


•; li "c io v: ^1 O' ~t iJ 


- • 1 
u 

• • . 1 


N'timber of rings in heart-wood. 


: !:::rr' 


r T 1 r ^i_ . i_ . 


da.ximnm width of rings (in 
heart) to inch. 


: S : : : 11 

^ (X J 


T T T T 1 • T . 

InS — — :.•: io ■-• 
O' o ti c: =; -^ 


viinimum width of rings (in sap) 

to the inch 


: fe : : s-r 


;^ tC — C^ l^ • O' to . 


. CO c 

D 
C 

-s 

c 

c 
c 


Vumlier of rings in outside inch 
ofsiij) wood. 


2! ^ H H ;=; H I-. 

|5| IF ^ 

m 1 ^ 


■3 o ss r^ 

1 ? 1 i" 

S 1 c 
„ S. 5 3 

-to,-. 

° ^r 2. ^ 

o ^ • 
I— (" ^. 

c § .0=) 

1 "< ::; 


W 

H 

>■ 
W 

to 



S72 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

The trees numbered 14, 15 and 16, may unquestionably be put 
with the " swamp pines" of the low countiy. Those numbered from 
7 to 12, of much less age, only approach, in sizes of heart-wood, 
to good timber, which they might have attained to, if left to grow 
two more centuries. 

It is not onl}^ the loblolly pine that is extremely deficient in 
heart-wood until of advanced age. Though in less degree, this de- 
fect is often found also in the short-leaf pine, {p. variuhilis) which, 
generally, is the best yellow-pine timber-tree of the higher country. 
Some trees of this kind, of original forest growth, of twenty oi more 
inches in diameter, have less than four inches thickness of heart. 
If of second growth, these trees would have had still less of heart 
generally. 

It is not always plain where to fix upon the dividing line in a 
tree, between the wood and sap-wood; nor is the line of junc- 
tion always regular or parallel with the rings of grain near the 
earth. Also, in trees like No. 16, which are nearly all of heart- 
wood, the little sap is so resinous that it can scarcely be distinguished,. 
except as being living wood, when the tree is first cut down.* 



* Whilst engaged in tbe investigation of this subject, and particularly as to the question 
of the species of the valuable " swamp pine," and its being identical in species, or not, 
with the worthless " old field" or loblolly pine, I sought scientific information from Dr. 
James F. McRae, of Wilmington. No person was better qualified to instruct, and to de- 
cide doubts, on this question, than Dr. McRae — not only because of bis extensive botani- 
cal knowledge, but, also, as being a native and long resident of the region in which these 
pines (generally supposed of two different kinds) grow in greatnumber and in ther great- 
est perfection of size and luxuriance. Failing to find him at home, I made my inquiries 
by letter, and subsequently received from him, though after this writing was completed, 
full confirmation of tbe correctness of my position — that the above trees, deemed so dif» 
ferentby all lumber-cutters, are the same. Tbe question of identity had previously at- 
tracted Dr. McRae's attention, not only as a botanist, but as a proprietor of pine forest, 
in which these trees were abundant, and of which it was is-portant to designate those 
best for timber and for sale. He says, in his letter, that "both kinds [deemed the most 
distinct and altogether diffetent by all timber-cutters and carpenters,] when subjected to 
the closest botanical scrutiny, show no signs of specific difference. Of this you will be 
better assured, when I inform you that I have recently had tbe pleasure of a visit from 
the Rev. M. A. Curtis, (than whom there is no better botanist south of the Potomac) when 
we examined together two varieties of the p. taada spoken of, and he unhesitatingly 
agrees in opinion with me as to their identity." "You will find the two varieties of 
the p. tffida recognized by Elliot, who calls the 'swamp pine' p. tseda, and the 'loblolly 
rar. Heterophylla" — [which latter is recognized by all other botanists as simply p. taeda.] 



NOTES ON THE PINK TBEB*. VJ9 

Fond Pine. Pinus Serotina. 

Micliaux says that this pine is " rare and lit for no use" — and 
states the " ordinary size, thirty-live to forty feet in height, and fif- 
teen to eighteen inches in diameter." By these and other indica- 
tions, I sought in vain for this pine, by such slight and distant ob- 
servation as is afibrded to a traveller, through wet lands, — and in 
some cases failed to distinguish it, even vi^hen my later and more 
close inspection showed that it formed the principal, if not the sole 
forest grov/th for miles together. This great oversight was caused 
to me by the inaccuracy of JVIichaux's description of the height, 
and also by the actual general resemblance of the trees to Wiejpin'ua 
tceda. And between these two, as species, the residents best ac- 
quainted with both have not observed any difference. It is true 
that, differences of general appearance, and of growth, are recog- 
nized by all — and even a diffierent name, the " savanna pine," ig 
commonly applied to the species now under consideration, where 
the trees make the general growth, on the w^ettest savanna or bog- 
gy svv^amps. But the usual smaller sizes, and apparently more im- 
perfect or stunted growth, and ugly shapes of the " savanna pines" 
are ascribed to the exposed unfavorable and unnatural situation in 
which they stand, in mire and water, and not to any fixed difier- 
ence of kind between these and the phms tceda on dry or dryer soils. 
Indeed, the cones furnish the only certain indication of the pond 
pine. They remain on the tree, and unopened, for six months (or 
perhaps a year) after ripening — are very compact, and some of 
them (but not always, as we would infer from the description and 



Dr. McRae says that the experienced timber-cutters profess to be able to distinguish, at 
the first glance the diifcrence botween the two (so-called) kinds of pine. And this they 
can generally do, from external signs — that is, they can judge whether* standing treehas 
much heart, [which they would call " swamp pine" generally, but to whici, near Wilming- 
ton, they give the name of '• rosemary pine," which elsewhere is given exclusively to the 
p. variabilis,] or but little heart, in which case they call it loblolly. Bat, by external 
examination, with the aid and direction of one of the most experienced and intelligent 
lumberers, who was fully satisfied of the difi"erence of these trees, and of his ability al 
ways to designate them. Dr. McBao found that even the actual and only differenee», 
as to the size of heart-wood and the comparative value for timber, in numerous casef, 
eould only be determined by applying the axe, and so reaching the heart. 

35 



t74 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, AC. 

figure given by Michaux,) are perfectly egg-shaped. But more 
'generally, while they approach this shape, they aie rather broader 
near the base, and more pointed at the top, so as to be about mid- 
way in shape between conical and oval. The cones, three or four 
together, often grow out from and surround a twig. Their close 
surface and their remaining closed so long, and also their peculiar 
forms make these cones more beautiful than any others. The 
cones, and especially those in clusters, would be valued as mantel 
ornaments. The cones are about two and a-half inches long, and 
one and seven-eights broad. The leaves grow in threes, and are 
from five to seven inches long ; and very like those of the loblolly 
pine. I have rover met with these pines in Virginia, though, from 
description, 1 infer that they are found, in numbers, in parts of the 
Dismal Swamp.* I fii'st was enabled to recognize and identify the 
tree, as the pinus scrotifia, in the low swamp lands north of , Lake 
Mattamuskeet, along the canal to Alligator river. There it grows 
in considerable numbers, mostly fiom eight to twelve inches in di- 
ameter and rarely eighteen. They form the sparse but unmixed 
, forest growth on large surfaces of wet savanna land on both sides 
ofPungo river. These w^ere peat lands, which had been burnt over, 
and are so low and wet as to be deemed worthless. But also, on 
the rich swamp land near Lake Scuppernong, (the farm of Charles 
Pettigrew, Esq., in Tyrrel county,) which had not yet been brought 
under culture, and which had been buint over and left naked, 
many years ago, the next succeeding forest growth was wholly of 
the pond pine, and of which many of the largest appeared to be 
eighteen inches in diameter, and eighty feet high. Also, on the 
thinner swamp soil near the canal of Mr. McRae, in Washington 
county, (near Plymouth, North Carolina,) the general forest growth, 
for a mile or more, and generally of large size, is of this j)articular 
pine. Yet neither Mr McRae, nor any of the neighboring residents, 
had suspected that these trees were of difierent species from the 



* Since the opening of the Norfolk and Petersburg rail road throngh the Dismal 

Swamp, I have seen that mo8t of thq pines along the route are of this species. 

1860, 



XOTES ON THE PINE TREE.1. ?7* 

ordinary loblolly or "old-field" pine ; and under this mistaken im- 
I)ression, this body of swamp land is generally supposed to be of 
little fertility, becaused covered (as supposed) by a growth, which 
indicates poor land. I do not pretend to pronounce, on my very 
cursory view^ that this land is not of inferior fertility — nor that the 
pond pine may not grow on poor land, provided it is peaty and 
very wet. But, this pine growing and thriving, and either gene- 
rally or exclusively making the forest cover, is certainly no indica- 
tion of poor soil, because it grows thus on the richest, of which 
the case cited above of the Scuppernong swamp land is full proof. 
This tree has more heart, and more resin in its sap-wood, than 
the loblolly; and very different from the latter, the pond pinefurnishes 
good and durable timber, for such purposes as the small trunks 
will suit. Masts for small vessels are made of those growing on 
the very low and wet swamp of Mattamuskeet. As a wet (and 
perhaps, also, a peaty,) soil is most favorable, if not essential, to the 
growth of this pine, it is probable that on the wettest land it may 
have the most heart-wood, and serve best for timber. Where it 
grows on dryer (though still wet) land, near Lake Scuppernong, it 
had been understood that this pine had more heart-wood, and was 
of more value, than the pimis tceda of the neighboring dry and poor 
lands — but the superiority was not so marked, or appreciated so 
highly, as I heard of in other places, where the pond pines grew 
on much wetter lands. 

IPitch Pine. Pinus Rigida. 

I have seen and recognized this tree (as supposed) in but very 
few cases in Prince George's Co., Md., and in Culpepper, Va. 
But all that were observed were trees of young growth, and there- 
fore the only indications of the kind were in the leaves and cones. 
The trees which I saw and supposed to be of this kind, had leaves 
thicker and more rigid than usual of other common kinds, three to 
four inches long, and growing in threes. The cones (in Maryland) 
about two inches long, and as seen open, nearly spherical in gene- 
ral outline. In our Alleghany region, this tree supplies much of 
the pine timber used in buildings, and in planks exposed to view, 



ii76 SKETCHES OP LOWKK NORTH CAROLINA, AC. 

would attract notice by the great number of knots. But except 
in small trees, which only were accessible to me, and which do not 
oifer good and reliable specimens of growth, &c., I had no oppor- 
tunity for fully examining the growing trees, and comparing them 
with others. I have never (with certainty) seen and known this 
tree in lower Virginia or North Carolina.* But as it would seem 
from some of Michaux's works that it is in this region, and as pos- 
sibly, I may even have seen trees of this speeies without distin- 
guishing them from some other kind, I will abridge the description 
given in the American edition of Michaux's woik. Some passages 
of this description seem to contradict others, to which contradic- 
tions I will invite notice by marking them in italics. Michaux 
says of the Pi7ius rigida tiiat it is " known in all the United States 
by the name of ' Pitch pine,' and sometimes in Virginia as ' black 
pine.' — Except the maratimc iKirts of the Atlantic States, and the fer- 
tile regions west of the Alleghany mountains, it is found through- 
out the United States, but most abundantly uiion the Atlantic coast, 
where the soil is diversified, but generally meagre." "In Pennsyl- 
vania and Vu'ginia the ridges of the Alleghanies are sometimes 
covered with it. Near Bedford, in Pennsylvania, where the soil is 
more generous, the pitch pine is thirty-five to forty feet high, and 
twelve to fifteen inches in diameter." " Its most northern localities 
are Maine and Vermont, where it does not exceed twelve to fifteen 
feet high." "/w lower parts of New Jersey, Pejinsylva'nia. avd Mary- 
land, it is frequently seen in the laige swamps filled with red 
[white?] cedar, which are constantly miry, or covered with water; 
in such situations it is seventy to eighty feet high, and twenty to 
twenty-eight inches in diameter." — "It supports a long time the 
presence of sea-water, which, in spring-tides, overflows the salt 
meadows, where sometimes this tree is found alone, of all its genus." 
" The buds are always resinous, and its triple leaves vary in length 



*I have since seen a few young frocB of this species in Albemarle, on the road frorr. 
€b«il<itt.svillo to Ridgewajf on IheRivanna. Tbose compared to the surrounding and oi- 
fJlnary giowth of pinus variabilis, were, very different- — and especially in the rtuch 
thicker and BJore rii^id leaves of the p. rigida — and alpo in (he general appearance, in 
,*Jnt apd oiifljnon. nf the two k inils of voung trees. 



KOTES ON THE PINE TREES. "ill 

from one and a-half to seven inches, according to the degree- of 
moisture of the soil." — "Size of cones depend on nature of the 
soil, and varies from less than one to more than three inches in 
length. They are pyramidal in shape, and each scale is pointed 
with an acute spire about two inches [lines V] long." A note to 
this text of Michaux, by J. J. Smith, says that the j. rigida some 
times attains the height of one hundred feet, and four or five in 
diameter.* J. J. Smith also adds a characteristic of this pine, 
which I have not known in any other. "It differs from other 
trees of this family in its stump thi'owing up sprouts the spring 
after the tree has been felled; but these do not attain any conside- 
rable height. The fallen trunk also throws out sprouts the suc- 
ceeding summer." 

Michaux further says that the |), rigida is remarkable for the 
number of branches which occupy two-thirds of the trunk and 
render the wood extremely knotty. The concentric circles widely 
distant ; three-fourths of the lai'ger stocks consist of sap. On 
mountains and gravelly land the wood is compact and surcharged 
with resin ; in swamps it is light, soft, and composed almost 
wholly of sap. From the most resinous stocks is procured the 
lamp-black of commerce. Tar is made of this pine in the northern 
States and Canada, as it is of the p. variabilis in lower Virginia. 

Perhaps the foi'egoing description may enable some observer to 
be more successful than myself in finding and distinguishing this 
pine in the low country of Virginia or North Carolina. Also it 
may prevent from being confounded with this pine either the p. 
serotina., (which Michaux says " strikingly resembles" the p. rigida,) 
or the p. toeda, when in low and wet ground, or exposed to wet, or 
sometimes reached by salt water. 

Having now described separately each species of this region, and 
some others for better distinction, I will return to more general re- 
marks, or the consideration and comparison of different species in 
connection. 

The short leaf yellow pine, (p. variabilis,) is the principal tree of 

♦This statement of sires, induces a suspicion that the writ-cr, (Smith,) had mistakefl 
the great swamp pine (p. taeda,) for the p. rigida. 



278 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

the original forests of the upper range of the tide water region of 
Virginia, and also above the falls as far up the country as the usual 
growth of any pines extend continuously. For, at some distance 
above, as supposed from change of soil, the entire growth of pines ceases 
and gives place to a general growth mostly of different kinds of oak. 
Proceeding south-eastward to the low and wet country, this pine be- 
comes more scarce, and is more and more substituted by the swamp 
or loblolly pine as original growth ; and more southward and on 
higher lands, and throughout eastern North Carolina, the long leaf 
pine generally is the principal pine of the original forests. When 
any of these several forest growths were cleared off for tillage and 
the lands were afterwards worn out and then thrown out of culti- 
vation, several different pines, in different places, as second 
growth, entirely occup}'^ these exhausted lands, and in most cases 
the second growth is entirely differ nt in species from the pine of 
the first growth. Thus, in nearly all of the tide-water region of 
Korth-Carulinaandon mostof that ofVirginia, the almost_,universal 
second growth pine is the loblolly, or " old field" pine, as thence 
called, which succeeds to the original short leaf pine below the 
falls in Virginia, (and also for a short distance above) and also to 
the original long leaf pine in North Carolina, and occupies, ex- 
clusively, in the abandoned former places of both, the ground 
which this pine had originally, but partially shared with the short 
leaf and other trees. In the Northern Neck of Virginia, on some 
other lands near to rivers, and also in the more northern counties 
above the falls, (as Fairfax,) the cedar pine, [p. inops) is the prin- 
cipal second growth, or is the " old field" pine of those lands. 
Further, the southern and lower Piedmont lands of Virginia, but 
not 80 low as the line of the falls, when abandoned, also are cov- 
ered and exclusively with their " old field" pine, and which is so 
termed in Amelia, Cumberland, and that range of counties, and 
in Orange, in North Carolina. But the second growth pines of 
this h'gher range of country is not like that of the lower range, 
but is no other than the short leaf yellow pine, {p. variabilis.) 
Thus it is the loblolly, which is the almost entire second growth 
of nearly all the tide-water region, refuses to grow at a short dis- 
tance (generally varying from five to twenty miles) and at an 



NOTES ON THE PINE TREES. 279 

irregular line of termination, above the falls, while the short leaf 
pine continues tlience and covers all the abandoned fields for 
some distance farther up the country, after which that particular 
pine growth also ceases. Yet, because of the same name of "old. 
field" pine being used in both places, many farmers and residents 
suppose both pines to be of the same species; And very many 
farmers of the lower country where the first and second growth 
pines are of different species, {variabilis and t(eda, respectively,) 
suppose them to be the same kind, but altered in appearance and 
manner of growth by the diffeience of the lands and other cir- 
cumstances. Of these facts, in regard to remote localities, I have 
to rely more on information than on my own limited personal 
observation. But in Prince George and Hanover counties, in 
which I have resided, and in more of the upper and middle range 
of the tide-water country, I have seen much, and have noted such 
general facts as these : 

In the original forests of the ordinary poor soils, or of medium 
fertility and dry land, not one pine tree in fifty is a loblolly, and 
all the others are short leaf pines. And of the few loblolly piees 
there found, the}' are of smaller and younger growths, if scattered 
among the short leaf pines, or if (as rarely) a number of lobloMy 
pines are seen near together and occupying the ground either 
partially or exclusively, it is ei'her when the short leaf pines had 
been formerly cut out or otherwise destroyed, orwdierethe mois- 
ture ot the soil forbade their healthy growth, or where tl.e ground, 
(in soil, sub soil and all below for sundr\ feet,) was so sandy as to 
be unfavorab'e to the short leaf pine, though not to the ]obloll3^ 

As particular observations, made with a view to certain objects, 
are always more accurate and reliable than far more extended and 
general observations made without any particular object, I have 
recently made for this purpose a particular examination on parts 
of the forest and worn-out lands of Marlbourne farm. First, in a 
body of original forest land, high, dry, of sandy soil, but having 
clay below, and of but moderate productive power, (or below me- 
dium fertility,) short leaf pines made the principal growth, and 
all of the largest pine growth. The lobloll}' pines were not one 
to fifty of the former, and nearly all of these few were of small 



280 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

eize. On one side of this body of old forest land is a very poor 
old field of similar soil, abandoned from eight to ten years past, 
and now covered thinly with young pines of five years old or less. 
(The earlier of this second growth had been cut down.) Of these 
young trees, perhaps one in ten to twenty is a short leaf pine, and 
these are always of smaller sixe than the much more numerous 
loblolly pines. On the other side of the forest land there is another 
small body of " old field pine" growth the largest trees being 
about ten inches through, and mostly of difi'erent smaller sizes. 
Of these, not one in three hundred was a short leaf, or any other 
than a loblolly pine, and few others, of short leaf, were so small 
tiiat if all are let alone to stand, these last will certainly perish, 
because being so over-topped and sliaded by the othei"s of much 
larger sizes and grcuter vigor of growth. 

From these and other more general observations, it would seem 
that in this region the loblolly pine was more lately introduced 
(or the winged seeds transported here from abroad by the winds,) 
than the short leaf, and could not obtain a proper seed-bed and 
maintain a healthy growth in lands already and completely occu- 
pied by other established pines and other trees. But when worn- 
out vacant lands were offered, the opposite result followed. The 
seeds of both these kinds of pines were everywhere numerous 
enough, and w^ere so readily transported to great distances by the 
winds, that there was no deficiency of either kind on any laud. 
But, in such vacant fields, or when these two kinds of pine were 
equally in possession, the loblolly pine i' much the fastest grower, 
and in a few years over-tops the smaller short leaf pines, which, 
therefore, are unthrifty, and in time are overpowered and die un- 
der the shade and crowding of the larger and more vigorous lob- 
lolly pines. Hence, in a thick and long standing second growth, 
however numerous the slower growing short leaf pines may have 
been at first, not one might live when the eldest of the others had 
reached to forty years. On the particular abandoned lands where 
pines of second growth thrive best and grow fastest, they usually 
stand so thick, when young, that many of the smaller and weaker 
necessarily must die, and thus make room for the more vigorous. 
In such cases, of course the short leaf trees, of slower growth and 



KOTES ON TUE PINE TKEES. 3Sl 

smaller size, would certainly be among the first to perish. It ia 
only when the growth is thin, owing to some unfavorable condi- 
tions of the soil, that in this region the short leaf pine can live in 
numbers, intermixed with the loblolly, as second growth; there 
being, in that case, enough space for both to live. 

But in the higher range of country other causes operate. The 
land there is naturally much richer than the dry land in the lower 
country, the soil red, more clayey and having not enough acid, 
(or having too much lime,) to permit the growth of the loblolly 
pine, which is especially favored by the most acid soil, and also 
by sandy soil. But the short leaf pine can grow and thrive on 
soils stitfer, richer and better constituted for fertility, and there-* 
fore can occupy such land to the entire exclusion of the loblolly 
pine. But still, even the short leaf species does not thrive as well 
on a good agricultural soil not very deficient in lime. Therefore, 
according as the soil is better constituted for tillage crops, these 
pines are more sparse and slow in growth, and on the best natu- 
ral soils they will not grow at all, as on the South West Moun- 
tain lands and the Limestone soils of the more Western moun- 
tain country, and rich alluvial bottoms everywhere. 

I will here present an opinion on this subject which will not be 
maintained by argument, to do which would require too much 
space, and would be here out of place. This opinion is, that the 
soils and upper layers of all the tide water region of Virginia and 
North Carolina, and also an adjacent strip, of irregular breadth 
ajid outline, above the falls, are of drift formation, the materials of 
the drift having been washed by an enormous flood from the lands 
lying above, and which were denuded in supplying that material 
That the whole region so formed by drift is extremely deficient in 
lime, (and much more so than the denuded region above,) and 
therefore naturally acid, consequently especially favorable to the 
growth of loblolly pines. B' this opinion is correct, it will be much 
more important than merely for assigning the necessary localities 
and actual limits for the healthy growth of loblolly pines. For the 
ascertaining the limits of the drift formation and the places where 
it is present or absent, will serve to indicate where lime, as man- 
ure, will either be highly beneficial, as in all the low country, or 

36 



282 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

where it will probably be of little benefit, or none, as is said to 
be generally the case on the red Piedmont lands. This subject 
of drift formation and the drift-formed region and its localities, I 
have treated at length elsewhere, (in Part I.) and therefore will 
pursue it no farther here. 

From the various facts and opinions stated in the foregoing 
pages, it will have appeared incidentally that some (if not all) of 
the species of pines, are especially good and reliable indications 
of the character and constitution of the soils on which they grow, 
and in some cases of climate also. Thus all the pines common in 
this region, prefer to grow on soils, if dry, of but moderate or a 
low degree of natural fertility. The white pine, {p. strohus) which, 
however, is not of either the lowland or the Piedmont region, is 
the only species known to prefer well constituted, rich and also 
dry agricultural soils. The long leaf pine, {p. australis,) requires 
a southern locality or climate, and with that, a dry, sandy, and 
poor soil, and also sandy subsoil, and its healthy and general 
growth is an indication of the presence of all these difi'erent re- 
quisites. The short leaf pine, {p, variahilu) prefers stiffer soil or 
under-lying eartli, both to be dry. This will bear more of lime in 
the soil than either the preceding, (except^, stiobus) or than the 
loblolly. The cedar pine, [p. inops,) is more rare, and its habits 
less known to me. But this would seem, (as a second growth,) 
to prefer and indicate still better original soils, however exhaust- 
ed subsequently, than either of the preceding pines of this region, 
and also of more clayey constitution. The loblolly grows well 
both on dry, sandy and poor soils, and on moist, deep and rich soils. 
But in both of these very diiferent positions it must have acid soil. 
And this last condition is caused and provided by the great defi- 
ciency of all forms of lime in the poorest natural soils, and also 
by the great excess of vegetable matter and of moisture in the 
low and rich and swampy or peaty lands. 



NOTES OX THE PINE TREES. 283 



POSTSCRIPT- 



1860. — It was some length of time after tlie completion of the fore- 
going observations, and also after their earliest publication, that 
my attention was first drawn to a peculiarity of the growth of the 
cones of pines, which perhaps is still unknown to nearly all other 
persons, including the best botanists. There are to be seen, by 
close observation, on some pine trees every yeai', (and on a few 
ti'ees they may be numerous,) very small cones, immature when 
others are fully lipe, and which vary between a cpiarter and less 
than three-quarters of an inch in length, according to their kind, 
when other cones on the same or other trees, the growth of that 
year, have reached their full sizes. I had often seen these small 
cones, and had supposed them to be abortions, which would be 
killed by the cold of winter, and drop otf soon after. My friend 
and kinsman, the Hon. Thomas Ruffin, late Chief Justice of the 
Supreme Court of North Carolina, first suggested to me a different 
character of these cones, which opinion I am now convinced is cor- 
rect. This is, that the cone of the pine requires two years (or sum- 
mers,) to complete its growth, from the first formation to maturity. 
These small cones have all the growth that is made in the first 
year. They are found only on the " water-sprouts,'' or latest form- 
ed wood of the trees, the growth of the last summer. As these 
youngest extremities of the branches grew after the last spring's 
flowers had dropped, and the small covies on these extremeties, 
sprang still later, it is therefore certain that these cases could not 
have been impregnated during their first year's growth ; but will 
be impregnated next spring from the farina of the flowers which 
will put out a year later — and after which necessary operation, 
the cone and its seed will reach full growth and maturity by the 
next autunni. I have observed this peculiarity of growth only in 
the three kinds of pines which only are common in lower Virginia, 
VIZ : p/w^^s variabilis, j). tccda, and p. inops ; but it is inferred that 
the same characteristic belongs to all the species of pines. 



SKETCHES OF LOWER iNORTH CAROLINA, &< 



PA^RT T^II. 



NOTICE OF THE RECENT IMPROVEMENT OF EDGE- 
COMBE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA ; AND 
ESPECIALLY BY MEANS OF COM- 
POST MANURING. 



Edgecombe county, or as much of it as I saw, in its surface is al- 
most a level, unbroken bj any deep depression except the Tar river, 
and its considerable tributaries. There are, on almost every tarin, 
slight depressions, usually very narrow and long, of swampy char- 
acter naturally, and which serve a most useful purpose, as proper 
routes for open drains, and out of these ditches to furnish material of 
earth for compost heaps. In many cases, these slight depressions of 
level spread out into extensive swamps — as on Cotton Valley and 
Strabane farms — which when cleared of their gigantic forest growth, 
and drained, make very rich and productive land. The clearing is 
very laborious, thougli the labor is lessened and divided, by belting, 
and so "deading" the large trees. The ditching also cut through 
matted roots and among standing trees, is laborious, but durable and 
effectual for drainage. The soil is deep, but rarely peaty, and of 
6uch good earthy constitution, and on such sound subsoil as to be of 
great and permanent productiveness, under proper tillage and 
treatment. 

The higher land is firm and mostly dry, naturally. Most of it is 
of pome one or other intermediate grade between sandy soil and mo- 



2S6 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

diuiri loain. Very little is too sandy to be of excellent texture for 
cotton, corn and peas — and not nuicli, (tliongh there is some land,) 
quite close and stiff enough for wheat and clover. As the culture 
of the latter two crops is attempted on very few farms, and to but 
small extent, it may be considered that the land generally is of the 
best possible texture for all the great crops best and well suited to 
the climate ; which, in the order of their usual extent of culture, are 
in the order named above, of first cotton, next corn, and last peas. 

The soil (exclusive of swamps) ispine-bearing and acid, and there- 
fore especially requiring, and profited by, applications of lime. 
Marl very extensively underlies the land, and has been found, and 
is used as manure, on many farms. It has been eminently benefi- 
cial, wherever properly used — and where known early, was the 
foundation of all other iuqjrovements since introduced. The com- 
mencement of improvement, as reported, was to me especially inter- 
esting. 

Until some fifteen years ago, the agriculture of Edgecombe was, 
like most other of the more southern counties, in a very low condi- 
tion. It was not then far from the truth, as to Edgecombe, as is 
even now erroneously supposed of it by many strangers, that its 
chief productions were turpentine and ague and fever. As was 
generally the case formerly, in lower Yirgiuia, as well as still later 
in lower Noth (Carolina, no one attempted the durable enriching of 
his land, and not many thought of taking the least care to avoid 
complete exhaustion at some future time. At that time, four farm- 
ers in the county were subscribers to and readers of the Farmer's 
Register, and from its contents they learned the value of marling. 
Three of them had marl, and began its use. Tliese were James S. 
Battle, (recently desceased,) Exum Lewis, and Dr. Dicken. Their 
success induced others to follow their example. Soon other _ mate- 
rials were tried. One farmer begau to make composts of earth and 
marl, and stable manures ; another added ashes— a third cotton- 
seed — and others added other and smaller materials, such as salt, 
gypsum and guano, but in few cases, and to limited extent. 

But whoever may be the just claimants of minor part.5 of the now 
general system of compost manuring, it is admitted that Baker Sta- 
ton, now of Cotton Valley, first practised it extensively, and became 
an exaraplar to his countymen in that mode of improvement — as he 



THE KECENT IiMPKOVEMENT IN EDGECOJIUE COUNTY. '2S7 

is understood and reported to be in general <i:;ood inaiiageiiieiit and 
good cultivation, llis successful and admirable results in the use of 
compost manure, in my opinion, were necessarily and greatly for- 
warded by his having iirst (or very early in his course) mailed all 
llis land ; and mostly in advance of his compost applications. It is 
to be lamented that tliis course has not been general among all 
those having marl accessible. Correct views of the action of marl 
on putrescent manures would have caused this pi-actice of previous 
marling (or liming) to be deemed essential. IJut the loss of value 
caused by the omission of i)revions marling is mostly concealed by 
the applications of compost being annually repeated — so that the 
degree of durability of each separate dressing cannot be kn(nvn. 
And the subsequent application of organic matter (supplied in the 
composts) was still more visibly operative, in making the previous 
marling the most highly beneficial. Before the improving system 
was begun in Edgecombe, the practice (as then and now too gener- 
al in South Carolina) was to take crops almost every year from 
each field, and to return less in manure than was abstracted from 
the land by the crops. Of course, the culture \vas regularly ex- 
hausting, and most (tf the cultivated lands had been thus njade 
poor, and were yearly becoming poorer. Under such circumstances, 
(as I have urged elsewhere,) cak-areous manure can have very little 
effect. Mr. J. S. Battle, named above as one of the pioneers in 
marling, and who at a later time became one ofthe most successful 
operators, after having applied marl for some four years, actually 
suspended the further use, under the belief that he had not been 
paid for his k,bor. Then he commenced the composting practice ; 
and wherever his compost happened to be laid on ground formerly 
marled, (as stated to me by his son, Wm. S. Battle,) "the compost 
acted like a charm," and gave sufficient encouragement for his re- 
suming and continuing the use of marl, as he did, with zealous per- 
severance and success. 

I will now state generally, and iu the cursory manner which only 
is permissible in a hasty sketch like this, the ordinary practices in 
making compost manure, of which the main features are now gen- 
eral in Edgecombe, and which, to more or less extent, is in use on 
almost every farm. 



288 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

The ditches on every farm, in their original banks, and the earth 
taken ont in subseqnent cleanings and deepenings, furnish the main 
supply of material, and which is nowhere yet exliausted. Much of 
this is of swamp or other rich soil. But some, from greater admix- 
tures of sand, of even poor upper soil, and very often of compara- 
tively poor subsoil, is much poorer — nnd as it seemed to me, too 
poor to be worth removal for manure. Still, all sucli is used for 
compost. Besides, the nearest woodland (even if of poor soil,) is 
often skinned of its upper surface — and all the upper earth in th6 
fence corners is scraped up and removed, repeatedly — and there are 
additions to tlie more abundant earthy materials for compost. A 
laro-e portion of all such earthy material, as l)efore stated for Panola,* 
is used to bed cattle and other live stock, in summer pens, (six inches 
deep or more,) and make the foundation, and a large ingredient of 
the general mass, with vegetable litter, in the winter pens. In the 
latter part of winter, the whole mass then in the stock pens in thrown 
up in low ridges, for better admixture and ripening, and then haul- 
ed out, to be applied, for cotton, in the drill, which is the universal 
practice. Where marl is available, that makes a large part of the 
earthy foundation. It would be much better if marl formed the 
larger or only supply of bedding for the pens in summer, whetl 
hio-hly putrescent matters are so liable to decompostion, and the 
consequent almost total waste of the greater and richer part of their 
substance. 

As soon as the crops are "laid by," in July and early in August 
usually, the making of manure, and collection of materials, begins. 
On all the arable ground not then under a crop,( which indeed is 
very little on most farms in summer,) the earth is carted to a pile 
in the centre of every acre, lOO single mule cart loads of earth to 
each, or about 500 bushels. To each pile is added 30 bushels of cot- 
ton-seed — and the earth and cotten-seed often are all. But either 
in addition to, or without cotton-seed, the stable manure, asfastasit 
is produced, is given — and all the materials are thrown into a heap, 
and as well intermixed as may be. Marl, where to be had, is also 
added, and ashes. On Panola, last year, in the compost heap on 
each acre, besides the lUO loads ofditch-bank earth, or of the "brown 

*Tfae farm of Messrs. John S. Dancy and Robert Norfleet 



THE RECENT IMPltOVEMEXT IN EDQECOMBE COUNTY. 289 

deposite" of t1ie riv^ei' froslio-i. tlioro was forty bushels of marl, ton 
bushels of aslies, thirty of cotton-seed, and one bushel of both 
gypsum and salt. But the two latter ingredients are rarely usod 
ehewliere. 

In the spring, tlie compost heaps already in the fields, (and most- 
ly ma lo throngh the past winter,) and also the compost manure 
ridged up in the stock peiH, are carted and laid in the drills, the 
land liaviiig been j)revi(uisly ploughed. The manure is quickly 
covci'ed by the plough ; and the planting of the several crops, in 
their proper order, soon ftdlows. 

Ashes are not only saved from the ordinary sources of supply of 
every farm, but tVoin other sources, and with peculiar economy and 
care. It has been ascertained that rapid burning and large fires 
consume and desti'oy (or rather it should be said, drive off into the 
air,) a large proportion of the ashes which wood yields. This waste 
is very great in the burning and draught of oridinary fire-places, 
and much greater in the customary large log-heaps and violent fires 
of cleared wood-land. Hence, for the wood of new clearings, and 
of drift wood deposited by the freshes of the river, small tires and 
slow burning are used. Tlie quantities of ashes thus obtained are 
very great. Messrs. IS^orfleet and Dancy pay to theirnegroes eight 
cents per bushel for all the ashes they will furnish ; and they make 
a considerable supply from the numerous dead trees in the woods, 
and scattered drift logs. The larger collections of drift wood are 
burnt by the proprietors. 

All these materials, and every other putrescent matter that ac- 
cident may offer, are used in compost, or intermixture. And the 
general benefits are such, that the belief has become very extensive 
that intermixture, alone, of any two or more different materials, 
serves to create new and important manuring value. The received 
reports of the general results of the practice, as shown in the large 
and increasing crops, and increased fertility of the lands so treated, 
are such as to permit no doubt to be entertained of there being 
great benefit and profit in the general. But still I would question 
the propriety of using, and of twice moving, and more than twice 
hauling, the poorer of the earthy material used, as well as the 
economy and profit of some of the attendant labors. Of this, more 
hereafter. 

37 



290 SKETCHES OF LOWER NOKTH CAROLINA, &C. 

With such industry to procure materials, and witli tlie unlimited 
supplies of tlie largerand poorer kinds, tlie amount uf compost ma- 
nure to be made is limited only by the lid)or that can be so directed. 
And the quantities actually made are enormons. EveiT careful 
farmer thus manures hiswliole cotton field, and more or lessofland 
under crops. Of the Panola farm, having;; six hun Ircd acres of 
cleared land in all, compost was applied last sjirinir to thi-ee hun- 
dred and fifty acres now under culture, and <2;uano to fif y acic=5 
more, four liuudred in all manured. The land now (or lately) 
under crops, is two hundred and twenty in cottr»n, two hundred and 
twentj'-five in corn, eight of sweet potatoes, thirty -sev( n of oats, and 
one hundred of broadcast i)eas as a manuring crop ; in all five hutidred 
and ninety acres under crops. Tlie products of this farm fir the oidy 
two years conijdeted under the present owners, witha safe estimate 
for the growing crops, would exhil)it to those persons knowing the 
circumstances, great progress of improvement. But to others, the 
mere statementof increase, without exi)lanations. would be delusive, 
as the necessities of the farm at first required labor to be withheld 
from cropping ; and the first two years' crops were therefore on much 
sma'ler sjiaces, as well as on uninq)roved and much poorer laud. 
Even as to other cases of older and long continued culture and in- 
crease of crops, which I will cite to si.ow some of the greatest im- 
provement and profit, all are liable to the objection of thei'e having 
been more space added hy new clearings, and also increase of labor- 
ers. This obstacle to accurate statements of increase must necessari- 
ly ap]ily to all improving farmers, of a country as yet but partially 
opened for culture. 

Mr. Baker Staton has increased his cotton crops from sixty bales 
to three hmidred and two, (four hundred pounds are counted to the 
bale.) 

Mr. James S. Battle ^vhcn beginning to marl owned and cultivat- 
ed four separate farms in Kdgecombe, on all i..f which he made at 
most two hundred and seventy five bales of cotton. Subsequently, 
he gave two of the farms to two sons — and on the otlier two faims 
only, subequently increased his crops to six hundred bales. On the 
other two farms, his sons have respectively made about one hun- 
dred and eiglity-five and one hundred and ninety-five bales — or 
nearly one thousanb bales from the three proprietors. From the 



THE RECEXT IMPROVEMENT IN EDGECOMBE COUNTY. 291. 

six hundred bales made lately by tlie father, there should be 
deducted titty ; which was the previous product of another farm 
which he luid lately bought. The subsequent increase on that 
new purcliase fairly belongs to Mr. Battle's general increase, from 
liis own improvement of land. 

Ml-. Robert R. Bridgers and Mr. J. L. Horn, besides having res- 
pectively the ordinary incentives to increase their crop.s, have for 
some years been engaged in a friendly but ardent contest with each 
other for superiority. Their crops of cotton for the last seven years 
will be here stated in connection. 

R. R. Bridgers. J. L. Horn. 

1847 19 bales 27 bales. 

1848 33 " 43 " 

1849 -53 " 54 " 

1850 88 " S3 " 

1851 13G " 137 " 

1852 185 " 165 " 

1853 170 " 182 « 

Mr. Horn's farm is on Town Creek, where there is no marl, and 
where ashes are largely used instead. His whole farm consists of 
but 317 acres. Half of his arable land, would not have yielded to 
him at first more than 10 bushels of corn to the acre. 

Mr. Robert R. Bridgers stated that he knew that the farming of 
Mr. Mercer, on Town Creek, yielded better returns than his own. 
But, different from most others, Mr. Mercer raised not only cotton 
for sale, but also corn and pork ; so that a like statement of his cot- 
ton crop, if reported, would not do justice to his improvements and 
protiis, in com])arison with others, with whom cotton is the princi- 
pal crop, and t!ie only sale crop. 

There are many others who in the last ten or twelve years have, by 
compost manures, doubled their crops — fewer have tripled theirs, 
and still fewer, including the above named, have increased them 
fourfold. 

If we had heard for the tirst time of these most usual practices, 
in advance of their ascertained etTects, there are few who would not 
utterly disbelieve in the great benefit of using such poor materials, 
and in any nett profit from the whole laborious composting and 
application, to be repeated almost every crop, and the tnanuring 



^92 8KETCIIES OF LOWER NOETH CAROLINA, &G. 

and the cropping repeated every year. And if one, or a few farm- 
ers only had even had some year or two of experience, and report- 
ed the beneficial results, their favorable opinions would be ascribed 
to their sanguine temperament, mistake, or eiTors of judgment. 
But when so many farmers, of all and various conditions, have con- 
curred for ten years or more in the same general procedure, and in 
80 doing, have stopped the former general progress of impoverish- 
ment, and have produced great improvement of lands, and increase 
of crops and of profits, there remains no ground for a doubt as to 
the general beneficial results, and great profits, of the general pro- 
cedure for such improvement. And their increased products and 
profits have been made on lands cropped almost every year, (an 
omission is very rare,) and without any thing like a rotation of crops. 
Cotton occupies the same ground ahuost continually, and always 
for at least four or five years in close succession. 

But in addition to these considerations, I have seen other and 
like facts of composting elsev^^here, whicli were alleged to produce 
great benefit, and were sustained by ample and similar evidence. 
In Talbot county, Maryland, a few years ago, I saw in operation 
nearly the same system of making compost manures, ai;d heard the 
like reports of general benefits thence deiived. The practices varied 
only in the different supplies of material. In Talbot, besides 
ditch banks, head-lands, or margins of fields, and other lich high- 
land soil, tide-marsh mud was accessible, and was lai'gely used for 
the chief material of compost heaps. Also refuse or very low-pii'ced 
fish, when to be obtained in quantities, sometimes made part of 
the richer parts of the bed or heap. Not only did intelligent pro- 
prietors so operate and improve on their own lands, but poor men 
who were but tenants at will — who paid rents that with us would 
be deemed much too high, (one-half of the wheat, and one-third of 
all other products of the rented farms — ) and who yet had been 
growing richer in long course of such business. As in Edgecombe, 
so in Talbot ^county, the practice was so extended, had so long 
continued, and the effects were so well knowji and established in 
general opinion, that there was no room to doubt the ordinary and 
great liencfits, even though there might have been many errors in 



THE RECENT IMPROVEMENT IN EDGECOMBE COUNTY. 293 

the details, and many losses in particular and wrong parts of the 
generally good system. 

Thus, in two remotely separated communities, liaving not the 
least communication with or knowledge of cacli other, tliej-e have 
separately sprung up systems of manuring ylmost precisely alike. 

My commendation of the genefal system of compost manuring in 
Edgecombe, and testimony of its benefits in inlproving both crops 
and land, have been sufficiently stated. I can also testify (though 
such might be inferred as incidents to all great and general im- 
provement of lands,) that the farmers are intelligent in pursuing 
their phtus — zealous and mdustrious in their labors — and ma,naging 
well in the peculiar system they aim to pursue. I will now take 
the liberty of noting some things in which I tliink they err, either 
in acts of commission or omission. 

1. In their compost system, I think they err in using much 
earth as material wliich is too poor to pay for two transportations 
and more handlings. Enough of rich earth might be found and 
used instead, on almost every farm — or still better, marl for the 
flooring of stock pens. 

2. A still earlier and more general error, is to omit the general 
and light marling (or liming) of all the fields in advance of the com- 
post applications, or as early as possible. 1 say light marling, 
because the marl m.iking part of the compost v\'ould at every ap- 
plication serve to add to the quantity of marl, until the soil had 
been made sufficiently colcareous. If this most valuable material 
is not to be obitaned on or near every farm, marl, nearly as rich as 
pure lime from the moie southern counties, might be brought by 
the rail road — or lime boated up the Tar river. At some times 
even the lime fi'om Maine has been thus obtained as low as one 
dollar the cask. Mr. D. Bullock once bought one thousand casks 
of lime at that price, and used it as material for compost. 

3. There is much loss of labor in the manner of c;irting the ma- 
terials and carrying out and applying the compost manure. The 
carts are all small, drawn by one mule, and have the ordinary nar- 
row wheels. The carting of materials in summer is mostly limited 



294 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

to the time between the "laying by" the crops, and the begin- 
nino- to gather lodder. None of this time can be lost ; and if much 
rain occurs the ground is mt(de soft, and the hauling heavy. Fur- 
ther — when cartiiJg out the manure in the spring, to be put in the 
open drills, the field has then been plouglRd, and of course the 
hauling is laborious. Hence, the oidinaiy loads of cailli, or of 
compost, are estimated at only five butshels to the one-mule cart. 
Now, on dry or fimi ground, and on so level a surface, a mule can 
easily haul eight bushels of moist marl or earth — and a two-mule 
cart, eighteen bushels, as I have iuUy testtd iu my extensive n.arl- 
ing labors. And if using wheels five inches wide on the tread, the 
ground would be ke})t smooth and firm under the wheels, even if 
in a condition of moisture which would cau&e the ground to be cut 
up and become miiy under^ iianow rimmed wheels. Two mule 
carts would require but half the present number of drivers. These 
remarks apply as well to the haiding of marl from the diggings. 

4. The compost heaps are mostly, or to a gieat extent, built on 
the fields, each one in the middle of the acre wliich it is to cover. 
Of course, fiom the heap to the most distant parts of the acre, is 
but little more than forty yards — and this is the extreme distance 
to which the carts have to haul from each heap, and UiUch of the 
hauling is within the distance of twenty yards. To use carts for 
such short trips is a great waste of labor— even though each cart 
may make one hundred and twenty or more tiips in a day. For 
such short distances, I think it probable tliat wheelbarrows, (lun- 
ning over moveable plank tracks,) would be cheaper — or scrapeis, 
if the texture of the conjpost admitted the use of the scraper. 

5. The roads ascending from marl-pits (when such ascending 
roads are used) for want of uniform giading, and as geutle ascent 
as the giound would well allow, cause great increase of diought, 
and loss of power in hauling. Also, in every case observed, there 
were serious defiects in the manner of working the pits, causing 
great loss of labor, and in some cases of marl also. All these defects 
might have been found out and lemedied, by an attentive reading of 
my directions for working marl-pits, in the last (5th) edition of the 



THE EECENT IMPROVEMENT IN EDGECOMBE COUNTY. 295 

" Essay on Calcareous Mil nnrcs." This book was in the liaiuls cf 
must ot'thtise inai-lers ; and their failure to attend to the instructions 
there given, and their readiness to admit the same tiom my verbal 
directions, is an evidence of how much moreetfective is the one mode 
of advice than the other. Priute^J and general insti'uctions, however 
ap])licable to practice, and to usual and various circumstances, are 
]"ai'ely attended to and obsc!ived in pi'actice even by the most intelli- 
gent readers. Yet the same persons, and also the less informed 
p(!rsons who rarely read lor agricultural instruction, will eagerly 
listen to, and uladly profit by similar verbal directions, offered for 
each particular case and locality. 

6. The good (or imjiroving) land is cultivated so generally every 
year, that it may be said to have no cessation of crop-bearing ; and 
when under cotton, there is rarely a change to any other crop. It is 
alhiied, (and I do not mean here to oppose the correctness of the 
opmion,) that the production of cotton, and quality of the product, 
are not impaired by the longest known continuation of culture, 
with five or six hundred bushels of compost manure, (mainly of 
earth as above described; annually supjtlied to the land. Even if 
so, the imjirovement might be more rapid, and products still better, 
if with more change of cultuie, and especially if preceding cotton, 
if only one year preceding two or three of continued cotton, by a 
manuring pea crop. There is no such thing attempted as any reg- 
ular rotation of crops in Edgeconibe. 

7. A general error is to make too limited use of peas as a manu- 
ring crop. This is the most valuable plant for manuring in a 
southern climate — and is there as valuable as clover in a more 
noithern and humid cliimite — ) and nowliere does it grow better, 
with more certainty and more luxuriance, than on the soils of 
Edgecombe. Yet except as the universal secondary crop among 
corn, peas are rarely grown — and beneficial as is this mode, it is not 
sufhcient to bring into operation half of the manuring value of this 
inestimable plant and crop, for this region. 

8. Owing to the wide extent of cotton culture, and the small ex- 
tent of forage crops and products — and the entire want of grass 



296 SKETCHES OF LOWER NORTH CAROLINA, &C. 

culture and of meadows, even on the lands admirably suited for 
grass — there is a frequent scarcity of ha}'. To supply the defici- 
ency, northern hay is imported, and used not only by the townsmen, 
but to more or less extent by some of the farmers of the country. 
This is a shame — a disgrace to the agriculture of Edgecombe, which 
I trust will not be suffered to continue much longer. 

Thus, I have as freely condemned what I deemed wrong, as ap- 
plauded what is right. But in censures thrown out on such slight 
opportunity for observation, it is more than probable that the cause 
may be in some degree mistaken. And even if not mistaken, the 
censure is apt to be deemed correct in opinions entirely opposed to 
those of the censured. 



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